Unwavering Heart
by Rola G
Summary: Now living in Konoha after five years of traveling, the unpredictable, mature, and determined girl wishes to do something about the world, which is growing with more hatred as the years go by. She supposes the first lesson she must learn, and teach, is you can't do everything by yourself; not even the hokage. Friendship Naruto and OC, pairings will come later. Naruhina, OCxGaara
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone

So this idea just came out of a spur moment, and I started writing.

I like it but its up to you guys by the end of the week to tell me how it goes.

Enjoy

Don't own Naruto

* * *

Prologue

It was such a sunny day so early in the morning. The birds were chirping, the sun was already up, and many stands and civilians were awake preparing for the day. Even the Hokage was smiling from the lack of enemies-err-paperwork. Trades were coming to and fro from other places and not many missions were required to do assassination jobs. Today looked to be one of the more promising days.

So it was even more pleasant to a family who were hoping to open business on this fine day; they have been traveling for five years, hoping to start their weapons and shinobi equipment shop in some hidden village, but so far had been only able to sell as they travel. They didn't belong to any previous village since whatever place they stayed had been destroyed during the third shinobi war. A married man and women, along with their eight year old daughter had reached the village gates, with their weapons cart, at 9 am in the morning.

"Stop! State your business" Came one of the men at the front gate.

"Hello there, were just a family traveling who sells weapons, and we wish to see if we can live here permanently" the husband spoke.

"Only the Hokage can grant you that, my partner here will escort you to the Hokage tower" his partner got up, and began to lead. The family followed him.

As the family walked through the village, it became quite clear that the people were friendlier than some of the other villages they have seen. Despite not being from the village, the people of Konoha smiled at them, and some even waved.

The little girl couldn't help but simile back. She loved her parents, and enjoyed the travels and training she learned, but because they never stayed in one place she had no friends of her own. The closest person she could call a friend was that red haired boy from Suna. She didn't know why people called him a monster, even he himself said that, but he was nice to her. His uncle saved her when he couldn't control the sand that was about to hit her, but when he said sorry, she just had forgiven him. For two months the two would hangout (she ignored those who treated him badly, even yelling at his siblings at one point) and he had shared his story a few days before she had to leave. It was the first time she saw him cry, but despite being scared of his sand, she gave him a hug until he had quieted down. His smile was less strained after that. She had agreed that she would send him letters since he gave her his address, but she couldn't expect any answer back until she officially settled onto a village.

He hadn't cared, just said that as long as she would send it would be enough, and once she had settled then he would send her back. She agreed and left with a full heart.

It had been two years since then, she sent whenever possible, even gave him some gifts, but since she had yet to settle down, she couldn't give him an address to receive.

'It'll be fine now, once we officially settle here I can send him my information and talk to him like before' she hummed happily as she made her way to the tower with her family.

* * *

The Hokage was an old and kind man. He felt there were things he couldn't correct, but tried to keep the peace in the village to the best of his capabilities. Every day, before he began his day in his office, he would look down at his village as a reminder why he would give his life to protect it. It pained him to think of the kids he couldn't help, the families who were broken, and the student who had left. A Hokage is known to be strong, but a Hokage is also one man; he can't be in every place at once.

Sighing, he sat at his desk and began the least favourite thing to a Hokage; Paperwork.

A knock came on his door, putting pause to the work at hand.

"Come in" the sandaime said.

"Hokage-sama, we have visitors who wish to have residency in our village" the chunin said, taking a bow.

He raised an eyebrow at that; the last time someone came for residency was before the third shinobi war occurred.

"Bring them in, this will be quite in interesting ordeal" he said.

With a bow, he went out the door to bring in a man, women, and little girl: The man had dark eyes, black hair and a very well defined jaw line. He dressed in black pants and a blue sleeveless shirt. His arms had blue warmers. The women had blue eyes, was fair-skinned with straight red hair. She was wearing a long pink dress with a waistband and pink sandals. The little girl was short, fair-skinned girl with wavy long hair, with its color being a black on top, and dark red like blood a quarter down to her hair ends. She had blue eyes. She was wearing a short dark blue with red stripes dress with a waistband and red sandals. While it was clear the girl took after her mother, her posture and movements seemed more like her fathers.

In fact, since he was looking closely at them, it appeared that the man's posture was that of a ninja instead of a civilian, and his daughter likewise.

"Hokage-sama, I am honored that you would meet me and my family right away upon our request" the man in question bowed as he said this.

"Please, I welcome anyone who's willing to take a chance at starting a new life, but before we begin may I ask a question?" The Sanime said.

"Of course" he nodded

"Were you that of a ninja? Your posture and eyes tell me of experience" the man flinched at this observation, "Which brings me to wonder why you would wish to start a business in weapons instead of instating you as a ninja".

"Should my family come into harm's way, I'll fight for their sake, but I do not wish to live the life of a shinobi; there's always a chance at death and my family would be left alone to fend. I wish to see my family grow and prosper, and my little girl grow into a fine young women. If you wish to test my skill I will not deny, but if you wish for me to join your ranks, then I must humbly decline." The man stated with a firm defiance.

"Now, now, there's no need of that. I was merely curious, and it's admirable to protect your family. Unless you ever change your mind I will not give you any form of test of seeing your skills. What I wish to know is why you would pick Konoha out of all the hidden villages to join?" He puffed at his pipe and leaned closer towards the family.

"We have been looking to find residency for a year now Hokage-sama, but all other villages seem to either be upfront about outsiders, or they are still in bad condition from the previous war. This village is the only one so far with lush green and the people were friendly to us despite we are foreign. If you grant us residency, then be assured that it's because we wish to live our life here and not because of any other agenda." The man looked him in the eye this time as if trying to convey his feelings.

It reminded him of a time when the second hokage would show that look during the second war, stating that was the absolute truth of things despite all odds; he won't turn this family away, they have already appeared to be preparing for another member to join by the look of how the women placed a hand at her flat stomach.

He brought a couple of papers under his desk, and offered it to the family, "sign these and return them by the end of the day, for your daughter I've given her an extra in terms of education. Once you complete them, you will be a full citizen of Konoha; I will take your word and trust you, please let my trust not be misplaced."

All three of them showed genuine smiles on their face bringing him to smile as well. All three bowed once they took the papers, and left the office.

Turning to look at his village again, he couldn't help but feel like today he did something right.

* * *

"Mommy, daddy, I'm done with my papers" She gave them to her father.

Her dad looked them over and was satisfied by her pen ship, signing each of them as her guardian. He gave his wife the education papers to hold while he continued his own papers.

His wife decided to look over her daughters papers while waiting, and widened her eyes in surprise.

"Sweetie, why is your education paper blank" she asked hesitantly

"It's not, you're looking at the wrong one" with that statement the mother looked at the other one, which turned out to be the one for the Konoha academy.

"I don't approve! It's the men's job to protect women, you don't have to waste your life now that we are no longer traveling" her mother's voice was gradually raising in volume.

The girl just gave her mom a pointed look; she honestly tried to like the things her mother liked, but she couldn't help but enjoy the things her dad did instead. She once saw some of the moves he did for exercises, and copied him. He thought nothing of it until she was attacked by a rouge ninja and was able to counter him. After her father finished him off, he was stunned by her performance and decided to teach her the basics, much to her mother's dismay.

"You can't stop her love; I've already given my consent. Whether she becomes a full fledge ninja or not is her choice, and she's a natural" her father calmly replied.

"Aren't you being a hypocrite, you said your father forced you to become a ninja" her mother shot at him.

He looked at her and gave her a hard stare, "That's different; my father forced me when I didn't want to become one, I am not forcing her though. She wants to become a ninja. She signed the papers herself without asking us. She's made her choice. I just signed saying its fine with me."

"But…."

"I made a promise that I wouldn't ever force my family to do anything they wouldn't want to do. If I don't approve her decision it will be forcing her into a life she doesn't want. She's already more mature than most kids her age should be, I trust the decision she wishes to take, just accept her as the daughter you have and not the daughter you want" and with that, he turned his head away stating that the conversation was over.

Her mom's eyes watered and I looked away. No matter how much she wished it, I wasn't the daughter she wished I could be. Even though the war was over, I still saw things kids my age or younger shouldn't; I can't just live the life of a civilian, I couldn't. How can you play soccer when you've seen bloodshed and a battle field at the small age of 3; I had nightmares for months, still sometimes do.

Dad told me about his story with his dad two years back before he started training me of how he became a ninja and wished he didn't; he still blames himself for what happened to the village he was once a spy to.

Because of how my dad was raised, he knew better and understood why it was my decision; just because I'm a kid didn't mean I didn't know what I wanted; more than half the ninjas start from ages 10 to 13 thus making them seen as adults.

"Okay everything is signed, let's head back and hand in our papers" he got up and we followed.

* * *

When we got back into the Hokages office and handed our papers in, he took one puff and looked at me; he smiled.

"I guess that confirms my other theory; your daughter has some ninja training from her posture as well, and experience from the way her eyes appear to be", his smile saddened at that last comment. "I will happily instate you to our academy. You may begin on Monday, two days from now" He said with a nod.

Stamping our papers and putting them away, he stood up and raised his hand to shake fathers, "Kori, Sora, and little Hikari Chami; Welcome to the hidden village of the leaf."

* * *

And thats how it starts off, let me know what you think, I'm guessing Fridays will be this story's posting dates.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey Guys

Here's chapter 1 of the story, let me know if there are any mistakes to deal with.

Enjoy

* * *

Chapter 1

"Get back here you troublemaker" an old man cried; he was chasing after a child, "I'll make you pay for painting my store pink with that stupid face on it."

"Ha-ha, you'll never catch me; I'm going to be the hokage after all" The little boy said.

The man continued to run after him, not realizing that after passing a corner, the wall suddenly visualized, revealing the culprit.

"Hehe, you can try to ignore me, but Naruto Uzumaki is going to be hokage someday. No way will I ever be captured by an old man" The boy, introduced as Naruto Uzumaki, said.

"Well that was fun, but now I'm covered in paint. Hmm, let's go home and get cleaned" and with that he proceeded towards his home.

* * *

While walking through the village, he tried his best to ignore the stares and whispers.

"It's him"

"That boy"

"Stay away from him son"

"What was the Hokage thinking keeping him in the village?"

Every day he saw it; the stares, the hate, the fear, and the whispers. He didn't know why they all treated him like this; he was just Uzumaki Naruto, a boy, not something dangerous like the Kyubi.

After crying for the last time, he swore that he would never cry again; crying didn't do anything. He also decided that he wouldn't be like everyone else; he'd make them recognize his existence.

'They'll see, once I'm hokage everyone will have to recognize me, and then they'll be sorry for ever treating me like this' Naruto thought as he reached his apartment. It wasn't the cleanest of apartments; mainly it had some empty instant ramen cups and some clothes lying around. He didn't have anything in the sink since he never used any plates or bowls. He shed his clothe off and entered the shower, letting the hot water run him down. Whatever paint was on him was slowly being washed away.

Getting out of the shower, he put on a green T-shirt, wearing an orange vest over it, putting on blue shorts with blue sandals. He placed his most treasured item on his forehead; his goggles. His birthday is supposed to be the best day, but it always had more people being hostile towards him. They wouldn't hit him or anything, but some would try to trip him, a few kids (bullies) would throw food at him, and the whispers would get louder. The only thing he could say that made him smile on those days are the surprise gifts he would receive. He didn't know who kept sending them, but he always would receive a gift, his latest one being his goggles.

Getting himself ready, he brought his Gama-chan (wallet) with him and left the apartment.

As soon as he stepped outside, a bunch of movement next door could be heard. 'Strange, I'm pretty sure the old man said no one but I lived in this building.' He walked towards the sound.

Upon arriving, he suddenly bumped into a running girl, and the both of them landed on their bottoms.

"Owww, that kind of hurt, hey watch it" Naruto said.

A hand was suddenly placed in front of him. Looking up, he saw that the girl had placed her hand there to help him with a small smile on her face. Shocked and unable to form words, he took her hand. "I'm sorry. I was so excited to finally get the address to this location that I started sprinting to get to the mail transport, not even realizing that I didn't know where it was" she seemed a bit embarrassed, but didn't let go of his hand. He still couldn't find his voice.

"My name is Hikari Chami, and my family and I just moved to Konoha this morning, what's yours?" she asked him.

Snapping out of his stupor, he smiled and shook her hand, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and you're looking at the future hokage" Naruto declared.

Surprise came upon her face, and then she began to giggle.

"Hey, don't laugh, I will become Hokage" Naruto said annoyed; everyone laughed when he said that.

"No, sorry, I am not laughing at that. Is that your introduction to people? She asked.

"Of course"

"Well then, it's in my best interest to be friends with the future hokage; could you show me where the mailing transport is?"

Now Naruto couldn't help thinking he heard wrong; friend? He defiantly heard her say friend.

She looked at him questioningly, but before she could ask, a man appeared behind her.

"Hikari, there you are. You suddenly just ran off. Oh and who might this young gentleman be" the man asked looking at Naruto.

"This is Naruto Uzumaki dad; he says that he's going to become the next hokage. Naruto, this is my dad" Hikari introduced the two.

The man, now known as her father, smiled down at him, "Well Naruto-kun, do you live in this building?"

He couldn't believe this; both of them were smiling and talking to him without the fear and hatred in their eyes, "y-yes", 'great, what a way for you to make an impression!'

"So you must know the layout of then village quite well then. Could you do me a favour? my wife and I are going to be spending all day setting up the house, and then finding a place to set up business; we might not be done until dinner. Could you show Hikari around? I promise at night we can all go out and eat at your choice of restaurant" Hikari's father handed some money to her.

Naruto's eyes brightened at that; he'd be able to get to know Hikari, and better, her father is allowing them to hang out. "You got it" He pumped his fist in the air.

Hikari's dad just smiled and got up, ruffling his hair. He stated to be home before sunset. Then he returned back to the apartment.

"Well future hokage, the first place I wish to visit on our tour is the mail location. Please take me there" she clung onto his arm while asking him.

Smiling and blushing ( _not_ because he had a girl clinging to him), he began to lead the way.

* * *

"Why do you need to use the pigeons for mail? Is it for a location out of Konoha?" One of the guards at the message table said.

"Yes actually, I have a friend in Suna, so this is the only way we can talk to each other. Here, this is a message from the hokage. He said I need to show you this every time I wish to use them" Hikari handed them a letter.

"Alright then, you may proceed, but why is _he_ with you?" The other guard said.

'Again, why is it always me, and in front of someone who doesn't treat me like _that'_. Naruto thought, clenching his hands into fist.

Hikari just narrowed her eyes at that, "why shouldn't it be him? Were next door neighbours and he generously agreed to give me a tour after my business is done here."

Naruto just looked at her, stunned; first she apologized when they ran into each other, then her father smiled at him without any malice, and now she was sticking up for him?

The two at the desk just looked at each other, and then shook their heads, "It's your choice, but he's a trouble maker and will drag you down with him" the two turned their eyes at him with that cold look.

Naruto flinched, but Hikari just grabbed his hand at that, "so far he's been kind, if he does turn out what you said I'll just reprimand him for it" and with that she sent out the mail, and left the building. She never let go of his hand.

Naruto didn't know what to think at this point, or where she was taking him, but for the first time in three years, he began to feel a sting in his eyes. 'No, don't cry! You promised.'

Hikari just stopped, turned to look at him, and then latched onto his arm again as if nothing had happened, "Okay future hokage, show me the village you have sworn to protect" she smiled at him.

Naruto couldn't help but smile back; not one of his fake ones but a genuine smile.

"Okay, the academy first because that's where I go to school; it's my first step towards becoming hokage after all" they proceeded to walk.

* * *

"This is the final destination on the tour. It's also my favourite place to be before the sunset approaches; the hokage mountain" they had walked up to the fourth hokage's head.

"Wow, the view is beautiful. You said that it's even more beautiful during sunset? Let's wait until it happens" Hikari sat down, letting go of his arm after clinging to it all day.

He sat next to her and looked out at the village; today had been one of the best days of his life. He finally hung out with someone his age, and she even stuck up for him! There were still whispers, but he didn't even notice them this time; he was too busy enjoying the company.

There was a question that he wanted to ask, but felt nervous asking her; they haven't asked each other about themselves yet, too busy with touring around, but now that they were alone, it was starting to get a bit too quiet for Naruto's taste.

"Say Hikari, who was that letter for?" Naruto asked hesitantly.

She turned to him and smiled, "It was a friend of mine that I met two years ago; he lives in Suna. Before, only I could send messages to him since I was always traveling with my parents. Now that I have residence here, I sent him my address so he can send me letters back. I hope he sends soon, I miss him dearly; he was my first and only friend."

"Was? Well, how about now?" He couldn't help but asking.

Her smile grew, "And now I have two friends; you're my second one Naruto. I hope someday you and I can visit Suna together, or he comes to visit us in Konoha; I think the two of you could get along really well."

"What's his name?" Naruto felt excited and hoped to meet her friend; he wanted to make more friends.

"His name is Sabaku no Gaara of the sand village. He's the fourth Kazekage's youngest son" Hikari's eyes seemed to soften at that.

They fell silent for a while after that, but Naruto didn't mind it this time; she had called him her friend and that made his heart feel warm. The feeling of tears stinging his eyes had returned, but he still refused to let them fall.

"Naruto", she sounded nervous, "There's something I've got to ask you; why does everyone look at you like that?"

Naruto turned away at that with his back facing her, not because he didn't want to answer, but because he didn't know how to; he didn't even know himself why they looked at him like that!

"…I don't know why, they've been looking at me like that since I noticed it years ago, maybe even longer."

"Is it because of what those men said about you being a troublemaker?" Naruto could tell that she didn't sound too convinced.

"No!" Turning his head back to her, "I started those pranks so it could stop looking like that, but it didn't stop, never does" Naruto suddenly realized what he did, "Sorry I-I didn't mean t-to yell at you" he apologized quickly, turning his head away again.

He felt her hand on his and she squeezed it, "Don't worry about yelling or anything at me Naruto, I don't mind. I actually prefer you do because then it tells me you're not afraid to state your true thoughts to me. Keep yelling if it helps."

Naruto couldn't help but shake now; pretty sure he wasn't going to be able to stop the tears. 'Dammit it, I said I wouldn't cry'. He closed his eyes tightly.

He suddenly felt her warm arms circle behind him, and felt Hikari's cheek press on his back, "I'm sorry for asking if it's making you upset, I promise that I won't think like the way they do, even if you one day learn why they look at you like that. Right here, right now, you're Uzumaki Naruto who will someday become the hokage, but most importantly, your my friend" he felt her squeeze him so her front was pressing at his back.

At this, Naruto finally cracked, and tears started to fall. He didn't outright sob, but his breath would hitch as the tears continuously fell down.

"Naruto, look, the sunset" He felt her head move towards the village. Turning his own head, he wiped his tears, and looked at the sunset as well. It was indeed beautiful, with the red turning orange, coloring the village with it, even if it's only for half an hour or so.

"It's beautiful Naruto, thank you for showing me this" She planted a kiss on his cheek.

He started blushing and stuttering as she began to get up.

"Well let's head back, my dad said to be home before it reached dark. Remember, he said you're joining us tonight for being my tour" she raised her hand to him.

He couldn't remember how many times he smiled genuinely today, but he took her hand with yet another one. "Right" and with that they headed towards their neighborhood.

* * *

And that's the end of that

For the record she's only going to be friends with Naruto, explanation for her actions will be in the next chapter.

I'm Trying to give her closer to an Itachi personality, but being a girl, she shows more affection.

I'll let you think of what a Female version of Itachi personality would be like.


	3. Chapter 3

Hi everyone

so some of this will be a bit of a recap from last chapter, but in Hikari's perspective.

I actually like this chapter, but if you guys find any mistakes, please let me know.

I don't own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 2

When we had started tour, I had latched onto his arm in an attempt to tease him, but he didn't shake me off, and took me to the location where the mail was. I wondered why he allowed me to cling onto him, until I saw the way the ninjas at the desk looked at him; it reminded me of Gaara. Not only did they look at him with such hatred, but they had also tried to encourage me to stay away from him. A sentence Gaara had said when I was in Suna had me reminisce:

" _When they look at me, they don't really see me; they see the monster from the past. They hated me before I met them because I'm just a reminder of the fear and danger they once faced; a monster."_

That's when I realized that it was the same here. They looked at him, but weren't really seeing him, although, from Naruto's reaction, he didn't seem to know why either.

'That's why he didn't shake me off' I thought, 'he doesn't notice how much he desires human contact'. After that, I made sure to remain clinging onto his arm as he took me around the village. While he chatted, I saw how everyone looked at him; the stares, cold eyes, some whispers, and even some had left the area, as if he was some disease. Naruto didn't seem to notice, or care, so I just kept holding onto his arm as I listened to his chatter. When we reached the Hokage Mountains, the view took my breath away. The entire village could be seen with such a green background.

Naruto had mentioned that it looked even more beautiful during sunset, so we waited for the sun to set.

"Say Hikari, who was that letter for?" Naruto asked. He seemed a bit hesitant.

I turned to him and smiled, "It was for a friend of mine that I met two years ago; he lives in Suna. Before, only I could send messages to him since I was always traveling with my parents, but now that I have residence here, I sent him my address so he can send letters back. I hope he sends soon, I miss him dearly; he was my first and only friend" I really did miss him. I missed how his eyes would brighten up when he saw me, how genuine his smile was when we hung out, and how soft and sweet his laugh sounded to my ears; it made my heart warm up thinking about him.

"Was? Well, how about now?" He asked.

My smile grew, "And now I have two friends; you're my second one Naruto. I hope someday you and I can visit Suna together, or he comes to visit us in Konoha; I think the two of you could get along really well" and I truly believed that. Naruto may be hyper and social, but I can tell that he would get along with him.

"What's his name?" Naruto looked really excited now.

"His name is Sabaku no Gaara of the sand village. He's the fourth Kazekage's youngest son" my eyes softened at that.

It got quiet afterwards, and my mind started to reminisce of my time in Suna; it was a dessert, lots of sand, always warm, and the houses looked like they were built from stones. I remember him sitting all alone on a swing, with a teddy bear in his hands. He was looking at the kids play ball with a sad face. I had felt more at ease with him since he was by himself, than with the kids playing.

"Naruto", I said, remembering the other part of my friends life there, "There's something I've got to ask you; why does everyone look at you like that?" It reminded me too much of how Gaara was looked at like _that._

Naruto turned away at that, "…I don't know why, they've been looking at me like that since I noticed it years ago, maybe even longer."

I frowned at that, my hunch told me that he really didn't know, but I tried to think of a way to get him to bring it up, "Is it because of the pranks?"

"No!" Turning his head back to me, he continued, "I started those pranks so it could stop, but it doesn't stop, never does" Naruto suddenly looked as if realizing something, "Sorry I-I didn't mean t-to yell at you" he apologized quickly, turning his head away again.

Surprise was on my face; it was the first time I saw anger and a bit of hurt on his face. This confirmed that he really didn't know why they did it. I took one of his hands, squeezed it, and smiled, "Don't worry about yelling or anything at me Naruto, I don't mind. I actually prefer you do because then it tells me you're not afraid to state your true thoughts to me. Keep yelling if it helps" I felt a little bit guilty of having put that look on his face.

Naruto's back and face was turned away, but I could tell from his hand that he was shaking.

I decided to do what I did with Gaara back in Suna; I wrapped my hands behind him, and pressed my cheek onto his back, "I'm sorry for asking if it's making you upset, I promise that I won't think like the way they do, even if you one day learn why they look at you like that. Right here, right now, you're Uzumaki Naruto, who will someday become the hokage, but most importantly, your my friend" I squeezed him closer that the front of my body was now pressing onto his back.

At this, I heard Naruto's breathing hitch, and was certain that his tears were falling from his eyes. I just remained where I was and let him get it out of his system.

I suddenly noticed that it was getting darker, and when I turned my head forward, my breath got caught in my voice.

"Naruto, look, the sunset" It was indeed beautiful, with the red turning orange, coloring the village with it, even if it was only for half an hour or so.

"It's beautiful Naruto, thank you for showing me this" I planted a kiss on his cheek; if he was anything like Gaara was, then I knew this would be a surprise. Naruto didn't disappoint; he started blushing and stuttering.

"Well, let's head back. My dad said to be home before it reached dark. Remember, he said you're joining us tonight for being my tour" I raised my hand to him.

He gave me one of those soft smiles, took my hand, and we headed towards our neighbourhood. I didn't let go of his hand.

* * *

"Mom, dad, I'm home" I said, bringing Naruto in with me. From the looks of things, everything had been set up nicely, and they were just sitting on the couch; dad seemed to be looking at some papers.

"Oh, there you are dear, how was your day" mom said to me.

"It was very informing. Naruto did a good job giving me the full tour" I responded back.

She turned her head towards him, giving him a confusing look.

"Naruto Uzumaki? I think the hokage said something about you being the only one living in this building. I'm Sora, Hikari's mother. It's a pleasure to meet you Naruto-kun" she smiled at him.

I looked towards Naruto and saw that he was smiling, scratching the back of his head, and looked embarrassed, "It was no problem. We had fun, and since we live next to each other, its best to get along."

"Indeed, you seem to be very wise" dad stopped looking at the papers and slowly got up from his seat, "and, as promised, we are going to go eat out at your own choice of place."

Naruto looked at me and I gave an encouraging nod, before turning back to my parents, "There's a place that makes the best ramen out there. May we eat there?" His voice sounded hopeful.

"Do you know if they serve anything besides ramen? I can't eat anything with too much sodium in it" mom suddenly said.

"Huh?" Naruto seemed confused.

"She means a lot of salt" my dad explained.

"Oh? Well I know they also serve green tea and dumplings, but I've never really looked at the non-ramen menu" Naruto said, scratching his cheek.

"Well I'm okay with seeing this ramen restaurant, lead the way Naruto-kun" my dad said as he took my mother's hand.

"Hai" he took my hand and pulled me along.

* * *

"Welcome to Ichiraku ramen. Hi Naruto-kun, and who have you brought along with you this evening" the old man at the ramen stand had said.

"Everyone, this is Ichiraku ramen, and this old man makes the best ramen ever. Old man, meet my new friend and her family. Her name is Hikari" Naruto said.

"Hello, my name is Sora Chami" my mom said.

"And my name is Kori Chami. We just moved to Konoha this morning" my dad said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. Any friend of Naruto-kuns here is a friend of mine; what can I get you" the old man said.

"Miso ramen first please" Naruto said.

"I'll get some Miso ramen as well" I followed his example.

"Beef ramen for me" my father said.

"Is there anything else besides ramen? I'm trying to avoid high sodium food at the moment" my mother asked, leaving me confused.

"If you wish, I can prepare a very low sodium dish for you; you can decide if it fits your taste" the old man just smiled.

"I'd appreciate that" my mom smiled in return as he went back into the kitchen to prepare our meal.

"So Naruto-kun, how old is you?" Dad began to ask, the same way he did back in Suna to Gaara.

Naruto suddenly fidgeted, but answered, "8 years old sir"

"When's your birthday?"

"October 10th"

"Favourite food?"

"Ramen"

"Least favourite?"

"Vegetables"

"Favourite color?"

"Orange"

And it went like this for about 10 minutes or so, until our meals came.

Naruto immediately snapped his sticks, and was about to dig into his noodles, until he paused and looked at us. I just giggled, snapped my own sticks, and brought the noodles to my mouth; it was delicious.

"This tastes great, now I know where to go for lunch" I smiled up at the old man.

"Glad to hear it" he smiled back.

After waiting to see our reactions, Naruto began to eat as if his life depended on it, then asked for another; pork this time.

"Whoa, does he always eat so fast?" I asked.

"Yup, he usually eats between 3 to 5 bowls." He responded.

Now I was even more surprised; was this really all he ate, I would have to talk to my parents about it later.

"Hikari, there's something me and your mother need to tell you" dad suddenly had a look of seriousness.

I heard Naruto fidget again, uncertain if he should be listening.

"It's okay Naruto-kun, you don't have to leave, it's not some deep secret; our news is that I'm pregnant" mom said.

My eyes widened at that; I'm going to be a big sister!

"Pregnant?" Naruto asked, sounding confused.

I couldn't help but giggle at his confused face, "It means that I'm going to be a big sister."

Realization appeared on his face, "Congratulations Sora-san, is it a boy or a girl?"

"I'm not sure myself, but I will wait for it as a surprise; I seemed to know when I had Hikari so I'm certain I'll be able to tell later on" mom said.

I noticed that Naruto's smile suddenly turned a little sad. I didn't know why, but since I didn't see any parents at his house, I assumed that he didn't have any. If that was the case, then I think I know a way to cheer him up.

"I guess that means you will have an additional person to protect Naruto."

Startled, he looked at me with confusion on his face, "Huh?"

"What? Don't tell me you forgot that you're going to be hokage?"

His eyes widened at that, "Of course I didn't, I'm going to be the best hokage ever!"

I smiled at that, "then, you know that my future brother or sister is going to be seeing you as a role model; that's one more person for you to protect"

His grin was so big that I thought his face was going to split in half, "Right, I'll be the best role model there ever lived so that he or she grows up smart and strong, believe it."

"I hope that they don't only eat ramen like you do though"

"Hey, ramen is the god of all foods"

"Sure, but if it's all you eat it, it will stump your growth"

"I'm not short dammit!"

"You said it, not me"

He was pouting, and at that point I couldn't help but laugh; he was really easy to tease.

"Alright you two, that's enough fun and games" dad said as he paid the bill.

Naruto looked like he was about to grab his wallet, but my dad stopped him, "don't worry about it Naruto-kun, this is a thank you for looking after Hikari while my wife and myself took care of business for the day."

Naruto looked unsure, but I just put my hand where his hand was grabbing the wallet, and just shook my head.

He looked back at my dad and bowed, "Thank you very much Kori-san"

"Please, no bowing is necessary, and it was my pleasure. Now let's all head home, it's going to be a busy day tomorrow" he got up, and we all followed.

* * *

We finally reached home, and it was time to go our separate ways; Naruto looked a little crestfallen.

"Hey Naruto-kun, I know I didn't ask about this earlier, but was it okay with your parents that you came with us" my dad suddenly asked.

Naruto looked at the ground at this point, "I'm an orphan" he mumbled.

'So I was right, he is by himself' that was one difference between him and Gaara.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry to hear that. Listen, don't ever be afraid to come over whenever you like to; you would be more than welcome" my mother smiled at him and ruffled his spiky yellow hair.

His head shot up at that, and gave that grin of his that I've noticed he hides with, "Don't worry, I will, have a good night" and with that he ran away back to his place.

That grin made me uneasy, but it probably had to do with no one ever treating him in such a way; he didn't know how to react to positive reaction.

* * *

Well, there's that. I hope you guys are enjoying the story, and once again, they are only going to be friends, nothing more.

Cheers


	4. Chapter 4

Hi guys

I'm glad everyone is enjoying the story so far, I'm still surprised on where this idea came from.

It's like 4 am right now, so if there's any mistakes of spelling, or past and present tense not making sense, or i'm going from first to third person, let me know please

Enjoy

I don't own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 3

Suna, known as hidden village of the sand, lies in a fortified valley behind cliffs of rock with passage in and out of the village, restricted to a single cleft between two cliff faces. The buildings inside were made of clay and stucco, which helps to keep the buildings cool. It lies just before a dessert, making it hard for travelers to come in, but also hard for those to travel out.

Gaara had once again spent one of his sleepless nights alone on his roof top. The stars had just vanished, and the sun was starting to rise. His siblings were still asleep, and from the loud noise, he could tell that Kankuro was snoring. The rising sun reminded him of his friend; Hikari. She had lightened up his life when he was gradually falling to the darkness, and, true to her word, she continuously sent letters to him, at random times, usually being between two to five letters . It was her letters that saved him two years ago after his uncle's betrayal:

 _Flashback two years ago_

 _Gaara had gone back to his roof top. He had received five letters from Hikari; it had been months since she left. One of them had a picture of her and her parents, and one of the gifts she had sent him had been a frame of her and him with his teddy bear. They were holding hands while she kissed his cheek._

 _He couldn't help but cry; she had kept her promise, and even though it had been three months, she kept her word. He now knew that no matter how long it took, she would try to send him another letter as soon as possible._

 _He was looking at one of the pictures, when suddenly his sand had flown up to protect him from a group of kunai aimed at him. Once the sand dropped, he saw a ninja getting ready to attack him again._

' _Why me, why is it always me?' and with that thought, he sent his sand at the ninja, caught him, and then tried to crush him. His sand wasn't able to and the man just fell on the ground, panting and injured. He suddenly removed the cloth from his face, causing Gaara's eyes to widen._

" _Well done Garra" the man before him was none other than his uncle. Gaara grabbed where his heart hurt, and suddenly screamed._

" _W-why Yashamaru?" Gaara cried._

" _I was ordered to assassinate you" Yashamaru explained._

" _Ordered, then you didn't have a choice" Gaara began to sound hopeful._

" _No, I could have refused, but I took the mission. I tried to love you, but I can't help but think that my sister died because of you. Your mother didn't name you Gaara because she loved you; she named you Gaara so you could take revenge on those who took her life away. Gaara, she named you so you could only love yourself, but she never loved you; you were never loved" He suddenly lifted his jacket, revealing exploding tags underneath._

" _This is it. Gaara, please die" and with that, he exploded._

 _The sand had protected him once again from being hurt, but the pain in his heart had multiplied. Suddenly, the sand began reforming above him, and Gaara cried as it piled onto the corner of his forehead, shaping the word love._

' _Alone, I'm all alone, no one loves me' Gaara thought, bringing his fingers to his face as he was about to place a justu on himself. All of the letters that he had brought with him had flown when his sand reacted, and now they began to float back down. Something landed on his forehead. He grabbed it and flinched; there was the frame Hikari had sent him, with her kissing his cheek. On the bottom of it read "together no matter how far we are, Love Hikari"_

 _Tears began to fall on his face once more; he wasn't alone, there was still Hikari, and she had kept her promise after leaving him._

 _He grabbed the letters on the ground, and went home to weep for the whole night; sadness for the results with his uncle, and of happiness knowing that his uncle was wrong. He wasn't alone._

 _Flashback end_

Since then, the letters and gifts came earlier than three months, longest being a month in a half, and it had been about her stories of her travels. She still hadn't found a place to reside so he couldn't send her anything, but her letters encouraged him to try to connect with others, suggesting trying to get his siblings use to him, and to remind Yashamaru to look after him. His progress with is siblings were a slow start since he didn't know how to talk to them. Hikari, in one of her letters, had suggested to talk back to his brother should he try to bully him, or comment on something he enjoyed doing. For his sister, it was just being friendly and as cute as possible. It was hard at first since they seemed to be scared like everyone else, but when Gaara thought he should show his new gift to them, his sister began to ask questions. She was still hesitant, even now, but she at least would ask or answer if he asked her. His brother got fed up with him when he was following him one time everywhere, and started yelling at him. At first he flinched, but then took Hikari's advice and talked back:

" _Stop following me, I don't know why you're doing it, but leave me alone. I want to practice on my puppets" Kankuro yelled at Gaara._

 _Gaara flinched at first, but resolved him to follow his friend's advice, "But that's all you do, I never get to see you and you never want to hang out with me. Besides, I really want to see you work on your puppets, I promise not to break anything or say anything if it will help" Gaara yelled back, then turned his head to the side with a bit of tears in his eyes._

 _Kankuro seemed to be conflicted at this declaration, and then asked before he could stop himself, "Why do you want to see me in the first place or even my puppets?"_

 _Turning his head back with still tears in his eyes, he answered, "Because even though you're my older brother, I don't really know anything about you besides those puppets. You're the only one who knows how to control puppets in the village anyways; I think it's pretty neat. Please?"_

 _Kankuro's eyes widened for a second, then he sighed, "fine, but no noise, I don't want to be distracted; we can talk during a break time or something, but not before then" and with that he continued to walk._

 _Gaara froze for a second before realizing he could follow, and a smile played on his face._

Occasionally, he and Kankuro would still argue over things, but unlike his sister, Kankuro was no longer hesitant when speaking with him. It pleased Gaara that there was someone else who wasn't afraid of him.

A bird appeared out of the sky, flying towards him; it appeared to have a parchment wrapped around its legs.

Gaara sat up as the bird landed next to him, holding out its leg. He took it and the bird flew off. Opening the parchment, he saw a seal at the bottom with the word 'gift' next to it.

He placed his hand on it, and out came a picture frame; it had the recent photo of her and her parents from two days ago. Hikari was blowing a kiss while her father had a hand on her head, and the mother was wrapped around his arm.

He looked at the top to read what she wrote:

 _Hi Gaara, how are you? Listen, we have finally settled down. I was disappointed with the fact it wouldn't be at Suna, but now you can send letters back. I'll write my address on the bottom of the frame so you won't lose it. We now live in Konoha, it's so green. The hokage there was more friendly than your father was (no offense), and we got settled right away instead of waiting a bit at a hotel. Once we got to the apartment, I immediately wrote this letter so you could know. Maybe during the summer break or in between semesters at the academy, I can try to convince my parents to visit Suna. If not, I'll try to become a ninja as soon as possible so I can have a better chance of visiting. I'll send another letter soon, but first I want to receive one from you; it's been two years and I miss you. How the family, how is' the village, your uncle, father, have you become a ninja, got any friends besides me now? I'll be waiting, if I don't hear from you after a month I'll send another letter than, but until then I'll be waiting._

 _From you friend Hikari_

Gaara looked at the frame again, and realized that the address was written on the bottom. He suddenly felt a bit nervous; it would be the first time writing, and even though there was so much to talk about, he didn't know what to say. 'Perhaps I should ask either Temari or Kankuro about help' and with that though he went to his room and put the parchment with the other pile he had received over the years, and hung the frame with the others from the two years of gifts.

* * *

Temari was an early person; she trained like crazy to be seen strong, sometimes, to the point of exhaustion. Her brother, Kankuro, would normally sleep for another two hours. It was 8 in the morning, and she entered the kitchen to get something to eat before freshening up for the day. Upon entering, she saw Gaara with an empty parchment and an inked quill. It looked like he was trying to write something, but his hand wasn't moving. He looked up when he saw her enter, and she froze for a moment. She didn't know how to handle him despite realizing that he wasn't the monster everyone seemed to make of him. Our dad had informed us what was sealed inside him, and because he always seemed unstable, she and Kankuro would try to avoid him. All the other kids seemed to ignore him as well, and the sand would become unstable at times. It wasn't until two years ago when some family who sold weapons came to the village and stayed for two months that Gaara changed. A girl that looked about Gaaras age had walked up to him and asked to play with him. After that, he wasn't unstable anymore, and even appeared to smile, and even laugh. The last few days before the family had to depart; however, Gaara began to yell and had hurt her with his sand by accident. She and Kankuro had run up to her to check if she was alright, while looking fearfully at Gaara; he had a look of absolute horror on his face. What surprised them though was how she got up, and started walking up to Gaara, bleeding from her injuries in all. Too shocked to try to stop her, even with Gaara pleading for her to stay away, she kept walking. Once she finally reached him, she hugged him, whispering to his ear about something. He started to cry, and hugged her back, saying sorry.

After that, his sand never attacked without his control. After the family left, he appeared to stay close to them as much as possible, especially after the news about their uncle passed. She was scared at first, even though he tried to just be friendly, but slowly would ask questions and he would respond, never getting angry or sad. Kankuro seemed less afraid of him, and even though they would argue, whereas she would not, it felt like the two were actually closer. Gaara never got angry or threatening with either of them, and only at most would get annoyed. He smiled sometimes, but seemed to hold some form of a calm posture.

"Good morning, did you sleep well?" Gaara asked, pulling Temari out of her thought process.

"Good morning, pretty decent. Umm, what are you doing by the way?" Curiosity overcame her hesitance.

"Hikari, the girl that use to play with me two years ago, has finally found a place to permanently reside. She gave me an address to her location, so now I can send letters to her. I'm having a problem on where to start; I've never written to anyone before" Gaara explained, looking back at the piece of paper at hand.

"She wrote to you?" Temari didn't even know that they stayed in touch.

"She's been writing whenever she can for the past two years, sometimes bearing gifts with her letters, but since she was constantly traveling I couldn't ever write back" Gaara simply said.

That was indeed news. Temari hadn't known how dedicated the girl was; it seemed Gaara truly lucked in with this Hikari girl.

"Well, how about you start with perhaps how good your control on your sand has been, or how you and Kankuro make fun of each other all the time" Temari didn't know why she said that, but he seemed to consider it with a nod.

"I think that would be the easiest place to start, thank you Temari" and with that, he picked up the material and began to head to his room.

"Gaara", Temari said, thinking now was as good of time as any to ask, "That day, when your sand spun out of control and attacked her", he stiffened at that but she didn't stop, "what did she say to you afterwards that got you to cry?"

He didn't say anything for a moment, and thought that perhaps it was too soon, but he turned around and gave her a sad smile, "…..She said that she forgave me" and with that, he turned around and entered his room, closing the door.

* * *

Well, that's all for now, I will try to not post around late at night so I don't sound sleepy when writing.

I enjoyed writing this chapter, so I hope it makes perfect matching.

Cheers


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys

I know, I've been late with all of my stories this week, must be canada day aftereffects.

Here's the next chapter, I actually enjoyed writing this chapter, although I don't think I did too well in the fighting scenes.

Enjoy and let me know what you think or if there's anything I need to correct.

* * *

Chapter 4

Monday had come by fast and all of the students had settled into class. Hikari was a bit nervous, but it didn't show on her face; her father taught her how to control her emotions so it wouldn't affect her decisions. She had asked Naruto to walk with her, and even managed to drag him out of bed. He was pouting and complaining the rest of the way, but she just giggled at him; he can act so mature and so immature with just a click of the fingers.

"Go ahead Naruto; I think I'm supposed to wait for the sensei to introduce me" Hikari waved him to the door.

"Okay, I'll save you a seat" and he quickly went to class.

Shaking her head, she watched him run to class. Whatever had been bothering him after the dinner on Saturday seemed to have passed.

"Alright everyone, listen up; we have a new student today. You can come in" the sensei called out.

Slowly walking into the class, next to the sensei, she turned around and looked at her classmates. Some were whispering, others were giggling, and Naruto was sitting next to a boy with black hair and onyx eyes.

Bowing, she introduced herself, "Hello everyone, my name is Hikari Chami. It's an honor to meet all of you, and I hope we can be friends."

"If anyone would like to ask her a few questions, now is a good time before we begin class" the sensei said.

"Why is your hair color like that?" a boy said.

"It sort of like a fusion of my father and mothers hair; my mom's is red and my dad's black."

"Where did you live before coming to Konoha?" A girl asked.

"I didn't live anywhere; my parents sold weapons on the road, so we were constantly traveling."

"Why do you want to be a ninja?" a boy with a dog on his head asked.

"My dad said it comes naturally to me. If it didn't, I probably would have joined there weapon business."

"Okay that's enough. Hikari, my name is Iruka Umino. Please take a seat" Iruka sensei said.

Naruto started waving his arms, and she walked and sat next to him.

Turning her head, she saw Iruka smiling at Naruto before he began the lecture. It wasn't too exciting; she already knew how to do henge, but the hokage lesson was interesting. Naruto seemed to be sleeping on his desk.

"Oi, Naruto" an eraser was thrown at his head.

"Itta" Naruto just rubbed the spot where the eraser hit.

"Pay attention, this will be on the written portion test on Friday" Iruka sensei said.

Naruto just pouted, and sat his chin in his hand with his right arm propped up.

As the lesson passed by, it was suddenly time for lunch.

"Hey, Hikari, want to eat ramen with me for lunch?" Naruto asked.

"It's okay, mom packed an extra lunch for me to give you, here" Hikari said, offering him the lunch box.

His eyes widened first, and then he smiled and gave thanks for the food.

"After the academy ends, want to go to one of the training grounds and practice the henge?" She asked.

Naruto hesitated before answering, "I'm not really good at it"

"That's why we're going to practice. If you were good at it then I wouldn't have suggested it. Plus, it's been a year since I've done it so I want to see if I still can" Hikari explained.

Naruto seemed to be thinking about it, and then nodded. Pleased, she continued to eat her lunch.

After lunch, the class went out for sparing in taijustu. Iruka called them up in pairs.

First up was a girl in pink hair, and a girl with blonde hair; the blonde won.

Next was the boy with his dog, and a really chubby boy; the dog boy won.

It went like this for some time, until it was Naruto's turn against some civilian. I noticed something interesting about him.

"Hey Naruto" Hikari whispered in his ear.

"Huh?" He paused before continuing to the ring.

"That boy appears to be a left side user. Focus on his left side, and block instead of dodging if he attacks with his right side. His right side probably won't hurt and you can counter him if he does" she explained.

Naruto looked at her and saw that she was serious. He nodded and approached the ring.

As they began, she noticed Naruto's posture to be a bit sloppy, but the other boy wasn't any better. Iruka called for the match to begin, and Naruto rushed forward to attack.

The boy dodged and hit Naruto with his left arm. Naruto dodged mostly, but got a bit of hits on his shoulder. It was like that for about three minutes; Naruto would dodge when being hit with the boys left side, or the boy, being faster, would dodge when Naruto would attack. Naruto finally managed to counterattack when the boy tried to fake him by using his right leg; Naruto blocked this time instead of dodging, and then threw him over his shoulder. Before the boy could get up, Naruto grabbed his arm from the back while pushing the boy back down.

"Winner Uzumaki Naruto" Iruka sensei said.

Whispers filled the students; the dead last won.

"Next up, Sasuke Uchiha and Hikari Chami" it was now her turn.

A bunch of cheers from the girls followed through and the boy now identified as Sasuke walked to the ring. She began to follow, until Naruto ran to her, "Good luck Hikari, kick the Teme's butt" she raised an eyebrow at that; did Naruto and the boy Sasuke have issues with each other?

Once Hikari got to the ring and faced Sasuke, she got a good look at his face; he actually had a bit of blue tint to his onyx eyes and his hair was quite spiky with his bangs hanging above his eyes. He was wearing a simple long-sleeved black shirt with a raised collar. What interested her were his eyes; they reminded her of her own eyes a few years ago.

He got into the Taijustu position that she guessed was shown at the academy. Hikari decided she would try her taijustu stance that her father taught her.

"Begin" Iruka said

Hikari quickly ran up to him to see what Sasuke would do. He jumped over her in order to get her from behind, but she immediately placed her hand on the ground, and kicked upwards while he was still in the air. He blocked it, but flew to the end of the ring; it looked like he was wincing in pain.

'Not bad, he's actually fast' Hikari thought as she went back into her stance; her Taijustu focuses on speed and strength.

He got back up and shook his arm. This time he charged at her. As his hand attempted to make contact with her stomach, Hikari incepted it with her hand, while hitting his jaw at with the other. He went flying straight this time, but not as far as before. He got up again and began to look furious; his jaw was cut up.

Hikari knew it wasn't fair to play around with him, but it had been awhile since she was in a fight, and she wanted to test out her strength against one of her own age. Looking at his eyes reminded her of something her father said once:

" _If ones hatred is not taken care of, then it will consume you. Afterwards, all that's left is a bitter reflection of yourself with no one willing to stand by you, and that right there is when you truly despair; nobody should have to live alone."_

She could see some of herself in him, how she had acted, and how hard it was to let go. Hikari wondered what Sasuke's story was.

Continuing to dodge and block his hits, Hikari figured that it would be wrong to continue to humiliate him, so she just increased her speed until she was behind him, and hit him at the back of his neck, knocking him out.

Sasuke fell to the floor, unconscious, and Hikari turned to look at Iruka; he looked shocked. Shaking out of it, he called it, "Hikari Chami is the winner."

Everyone seemed speechless. She just walked down towards Naruto, who also appeared to be in shock as well.

"Why all you guys acting so surprised for?" she was starting to get a little unnerved with all of the staring.

"Hikari, the Teme is supposed to be the rookie 1 in the class, but you just beat him like he is some kind of armature" Naruto explained.

This made her raise an eyebrow at that statement; he was the best in the class?

Everyone started to talk all at once, something about "cheating", others saying how the "mighty Uchiha had fallen", some even cheered that the "arrogant jerk" was finally beaten, until Iruka sensei yelled "quiet", shutting everyone up.

"That's all for class today, please study for the written test coming this Friday, and be sure to practice the henge justu" everyone began to leave, while a teacher with white hair took Sasuke to the nursery in the academy.

"Naruto, can we meet around 5? I wish to talk to Iruka sensei about the things I would have missed, and to see if I can get some notes. I'll meet you at training ground 5, okay?" it was just about 3 now.

"Okay, I'll get something to eat before then" and with that, he raced off.

Shaking her head, Hikari slowly approached Iruka-sensei, "sensei, can I talk to you?"

"Sure thing Hikari-chan, what it is?"

"….It's about Naruto and that boy Sasuke"

* * *

"Well, the baby seems to be nice and healthy, although, we cannot yet tell what the gender is" a nurse said.

"That's okay, it feels like it's going to be a boy" Sora said, sitting up.

"Well, I suggest coming for a check-up once a month, unless you feel any issues with your pregnancy" the nurse said, writing on her clipboard.

"I will be sure to, thank you very much" she bowed then left the room.

The apartment for the most part had been filled and everything had been unpacked. It was fast unpacking, but at least that's one of the trait's her daughter had from her, apart from her looks; she hates to procrastinate when there are things to be done.

Thinking about her daughter brought a frown to her face; she really didn't want her to be a ninja, especially after listening to her husband's story of his ninja career. It's such a risky and thankless life, plus she was a girl. She should be loving flowers and cute things, dressing up, wanting to try make up, styling her hair, and all the things little girls love to do. Ever since Hikari was three, she was more interested in what her husband would do. Hikari would follow him, but never ask what he was doing. She would watch him, but never ask to join. When her husband would talk about certain things like business or things ninjas do, Hikari was always attentive, but whenever they would go shopping, her daughter would always prefer pants instead of skirts, and the only dresses she would wear would be the ones capable of moving around if a fight took place.

It was such a shame, her daughter was such a beauty, and the colour of her hair would prove her to become far more beautiful than herself in the future. Leaving the hospital, Sora decided to walk for a bit in order to explore the village. It really was such a friendly place to live. As she walked she saw the hokage walking towards her direction.

"Sora, how are you doing? Has moving in been completed? If not, I can assign a genin team to help you out" The hokage said with a smile on his face.

Bowing, Sora said, "oh no, we finished yesterday. I just left the hospital and was walking through the village since the only place I've really visited is that ramen shop."

The hokage raised his eyebrow at this as if asking what she was doing there.

"The boy who lives in the same building hung out with my daughter, and afterwards he took us to the restaurant for dinner. The people there are very friendly" Sora explained.

He smiled at this, "Ah, so you met young Naruto-kun. I'm glad he was able to help you out then. I was actually on my way to a dango shop nearby. Would care to join me?"

"I would be delighted to join you hokage-sama" and the two of them went on their way to the dango shop.

* * *

And That's a wrap, well how was it?

I plan on leaving hints about Hikari's past as more chapters pass on by, the timeskip may take awhile since the two are only currently 8 years old

Cheers everyone.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey guy's

Here's the next chapter, I added some humor to this chapter, but I think more humor will be included for now on besides the usual look underneath the underneath thing my main character seems to know.

I'm grateful that people seem to enjoy this story so far, and i'll continue to make efforts to keep improving my writing skills

Enjoy

I don't own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 5

Iruka-sensei and I returned back to the classroom. I waited until everyone left the classroom, waving to Naruto, and sat down. Irkua-sensei sat next to me.

"So Hikari-chan, what is it you wish to talk to me about?" Iruka-sensei asked.

"Well it's about both Naruto, and that boy Sasuke" I responded.

Iruka-sensei raised one of his eyebrows at that, "What about them?"

"Well, guess I'll start with Naruto; he's really nice, funny, and respectful to me and my family. Why does everyone stare at him like that?"

"Like what?" It sounded like he was hesitating for some reason.

"Like he shouldn't exist; when Naruto took me to the mailing location, the two ninja there gave him a look of complete disgust, and even asked me why I was with him. They tried to encourage me to stay away from him sensei, why?" I kept my composure calm and indifferent on the outside, but the inside I was on edge; I really wanted to know if it was the same as Gaara.

"I don't know why they did that, but there's no reason for them to treat Naruto like that; he's a normal eight year old boy who just happens to be an orphan. The fact that you made friends with him is enough for him to be happy; I think today was one of the few times I've seen him smile so genuine" Iruka-sensei stated.

One of the things my father taught me when training was to watch a persons every action in order to see if their lying. I wasn't that skilled at it yet, but it seemed that sensei had his guard down, probably thinking a kid wouldn't notice, and because of that, I was able to read him. Not everything he was saying was the truth; I could believe that Naruto was an orphan, and that he smiled more since I was his friend, but I didn't believe that he had no clue what secret Naruto had. Sighing, I decided to just figure that part later since perhaps there was a reason sensei couldn't tell me; he didn't look at Naruto the same way those two had on that day.

"Okay, what about Sasuke?" I moved on to my next question.

"Why the interest?" Iruka-sensei responded.

"He feels like a loner. Today when I saw him, he was just staring out of the window. Everyone cheers him on, but he doesn't really have anyone to be friends with. I was wondering why, no one wants to be alone" that wasn't the real reason, but I felt that if I stated the truth, then sensei wouldn't be willing to answer.

"I don't know the full story, but, ever since his family was massacred last year, he has closed off any reason to be with his peers. Even we instructors can't get him to open up. He listens to protocol and never causes trouble, but I feel that if he doesn't break out of that wall he's build, then it will cause problems once he becomes a ninja. Already his scores on teamwork are low" Iruka-sensei said.

'So that's why', it wasn't exactly the same as what once happened to me, but there's no denying the similarities. The only reason why I was able to deal with it was because of my parents; he had no one.

"Thank you sensei; It helps to know who I'm dealing with before approaching someone" I said.

He looked surprised by my response, "he's not an enemy of any sort. Who taught you to act like that towards people?"

"My father was the one who taught me, and one of the lessons was to gather information on people if they appear unapproachable. Naruto I can approach because he's friendly, but Sasuke, I can't because he's quiet and a loner." I explained.

"It seems traveling gave you a good insight on how to read others, well if you have no further questions then I will head out. I suggest you head out as well" that was him saying it was time to drop the conversation.

"Hai" and with that I left the classroom. I didn't really get any information on Naruto, but Sasuke intrigued me even more; it seemed we had more in common than what originally appeared. In any case, I needed to meet up with Naruto for some training.

* * *

Stirring, Sasuke slowly opened his eyes to see a white ceiling. Sitting up, he saw that he was in the academy's nursery.

'What happened' was his first thought. The last thing he remembered was being paired up with the new student in the class, and facing off in a Taijustu match.

'That's right, we were facing off, and I couldn't get a blow in' every time he attempted to attack, it would be countered, and those hits of hers were no joke. 'Who was that?' he thought, rubbing the back of his neck that felt sore for some reason.

"Oh, did you just wake up? How are you feeling?" turning his head, he saw one of the academy nurses peering down at him.

"Hn" pushing the blanket aside, he got off the bed, and walked towards the door.

"Wait, at that chair is your things from the classroom. Your sensei made sure to have everything there after class was over" Sasuke just nodded, grabbed his bag, and left the nursery.

Walking through the halls, his mind wandered back to the match he had with the new classmate. He didn't really pay attention to her when being introduced, and didn't think it was going to be much of a fight, being top of the class. He felt both humiliated and curious about her; why was she so strong?

"It seems traveling gave you a good insight on how to read others, well if you have no further questions then I will head out. I suggest you head out as well"

"Hai"

The speaking had startled Sasuke out of his thought process, as the door opened to reveal the one his thoughts were on. Once she closed the door, she turned towards him, and stared. They looked at each other for a few minutes, until she broke the silence, "Hi, I hope I didn't hurt you too badly. I guess I got a little carried away; it's been awhile since I sparred with someone my age. My dad keeps reminding me that not everyone has the same training as me, but I tend to get excited and forget sometimes" she was smiling sadly, while scratching her cheek.

Training? Did she receive special kind of training to become strong, and if so, why just her?

She looked like she was waiting for something.

"Hn" Sasuke gave her a flat response as he proceeded to walk past her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you had a disability" she said.

Sasuke paused, and turned towards her, raising his eyebrow in confusion.

Seeing his confusion, she continued to speak, "Your mute right? That's why you can't talk to me?"

Taken aback, his right brow began to twitch at that. He was mute? Didn't she know that he just didn't like talking to anyone?

Ignoring his action, she starts to turn with a wave, "Well, I've got to go and meet up with my friend for some practice. See you tomorrow, and I'll keep my eye on you when talking to you; I don't want to offend you just because you can't speak" and just before he could finally state a response, she was gone.

Now feeling irritated, he just continued to the destination of his apartment. Tomorrow he would observe her, and see why she was strong. He would also correct her on thinking of his mute disability; he could talk dammit!

* * *

After ordering some green tea, and Dango, the third hokage decided to start the conversation, "So, how is settling in working out? Being a family use to constant traveling, it must be quite a change to settle down."

"Oh, it is. The last time we lived somewhere was back when Hikari was three. We decided it would be the best choice to settle now that the family will be expanding" She says, putting her hand on her stomach.

Chuckling, the third continues, "I noticed during our meeting in my office", this puts an alarm on her face, making him raise his hands up, "don't worry, I won't tell anyone you have no intention of telling, but does your family know?" he smiles as he sees her nodding.

"I hope he or she will live a simple, happy life, maybe take over the business when older" she smiles at the thought.

"Oh? I would think Hikari, being the eldest one, would be one to take over the business once she comes of age" Hiruzen seems confused as her smile turns sad.

"I would like that as well, but being a ninja means there's a chance of that not happening, especially when there's a chance of death more frequent than a normal life. No, I'll make sure my next child will continue the business and enjoy the life of living with ease. Perhaps Hikari is scarred for life after what happened on our last village" that last line was said in a whisper but Hiruzen heard it.

"Something happened to little Hikari when she was younger?" He couldn't help but ask.

Sora looked startled at first, with wide-eyes, then a sad smile came to her face, "Yes, but I wish not to talk about it. It's not a happy memory for all three of us."

Although Hiruzen was curious, he decided to let it slide, perhaps asking her husband at a later date; being a ninja first would allow him to speak of the past with reason more than his wife.

"You said that you've only been to the ramen shop around here, am I to assume that young Naruto-kun told you about ichiraku ramen?" Hiruzen asked.

"Yes, but me and my husband invited him to dinner with us. He had taken the time to show Hikari the entire village, and we thought it was only fair to invite him with us as thanks. Hikari seems to really enjoy his company, and I personally found him kind, even if he's a bit hyperactive. Someone mentioned unkind things about him, but I saw none of that during dinner" Sora said with an uncertainty in her voice.

Hiruzen could only smile sadly at this; even though he tried to give Naruto a normal childhood, even going as far in making a law not to talk about what happened eight years ago, it didn't seem to make a difference. The fact that a just moved in family is already being told to stay away from him could only make him feel more of a failure of not protecting his previous successor's son.

"I cannot say why most people of the village act like this towards young Naruto-kun, but he is a good boy who would never hurt someone important to him. In fact, I believe friendship would only motivate him to be a better person. My only advice would be to trust your own judgement instead of the judgement of others" Hiruzen said, hoping it would be enough to at least have Naruto keep one friend.

Smiling, she nodded, and took a sip of her tea, while nibbling on her dango. Once done, she got up and bowed, "Thank you for inviting me third. I will follow your advice and see for myself what character Naruto-kun really is. He truly has been nothing but kind and I would not like to push him away after learning he has no family of his own." With one final bow, she left the dango shop.

Sighing, Hiruzen continued to eat his dango as he thought about the family he met a few days ago; truth be told, he felt that there was something unique about Hikari. Her eyes didn't show one of an innocent child, but one who had seen her own share of hell. The fact that her smiles are actually real could only mean that she was able to continue living.

'It makes me think of one other who saw that piece of hell' he thought as the face of Itachi Uchiha came to mind. To be exposed to that kind of thing, and then doing what he did at such a young age, Hiruzen could only feel his failures continue to grow as he got older.

'I wonder if I will ever be able to atone for the failures I've caused in my life.' Hiruzen only hopes that whatever young Hikari had been exposed to that her mom mentioned won't break her like it did with so many shinobi.

'If it truly does break her, it may just break young Naruto-kun after finally making his first true friend.' Whatever the case may be, one thing for sure was he needed to learn what she had gone through at age three.

* * *

After training, Naruto walked me home, and I invited him for dinner. He seemed hesitant at first, but slowly agreed. The table was livelier, dad wasn't home due to business, but mom seemed to laugh at Naruto's story of today's lesson. Once the dinner was cleared, he quickly said goodnight, and told me that he would try to wake up early so we weren't late for class.

It was now time for bed, and my thoughts slowly coming together. Sasuke would take more time to know better since he wasn't an open person, but I had an idea on who to ask next about Naruto; the hokage. I wasn't even thinking about him for information until mom had stated that she had tea with him today after the doctors. If anyone knew why people looked at Naruto like that, it would be him.

While thinking this, a bird came pecking at the window. Startled, I slowly opened the window to see a scroll tied on its feet. I took the scroll, and upon opening it a pop sound appeared; it was a picture frame. The only thing in the picture was one person; Gaara. It startled me with how much of a change has occurred within the past two years: His fair skin and short, spiky, red hair, with his pale blue-green eyes. His Tanuki-like black eye rings, but with a red-like tattoo carved of kanji on the left side of his forehead. His forelocks parted from the left side; he had such a huge resemblance to his father now. The outfit he wore also changed: he was wearing a full black body suit with t-shirt-like sleeves, white cloth over his right shoulder and the left side of his hips, and a wide leather band over the left shoulder and right side of his hips. He also had a forehead protector wrapped over the band. What truly made me awe was the light smile I could see on his face; it looked so genuine. Tears were slowly falling down my face, and I laid down on my bed, forgetting about the scroll itself, holding the frame close as if it was my only means of connection to Gaara. My dreams for the first time in two years were filled with peaceful dreams, and not a dreamless, or nightmarish ones.

* * *

And there's that.

Now it may be a bit off Sasuke to react like that, but It's only been a year since the Massacre so he hasn't fully become emotionless and indifferent to everyone, just lonely and wanting to be alone.

Naruto is still trying to get use to the fact that he has a friend so the hesitation is understandable

Hikari is suppose to be deep feeling, although why will be better known as the story proceeds, but at the same time she's 8 years old so will be underestimated by a lot of people.

Feedback is always apprecated.

Cheers


	7. Chapter 7

Hi everyone.

Hope everyone is enjoying the summer so far.

So here's the next chapter, and It's going to show a bit of Hikari's observing skills, since she's supposed to be hiding her intelligence.

I don't think some things would actually happen in the manga like i chose to show in this chapter, but I figured it shouldn't hurt.

Enjoy, don't own Naruto

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Chapter 6

Waking up to the sunshine on my face, I opened my eyes, just to squint a little as the suns glares were strong. Looking at my alarm clock, it read 5:24 am, earlier than when my alarm was set to go off. Even though I probably slept for no more than 5 hours or less, I felt rested. Getting up, I realized that I was holding something close to my chest. Looking at it, it was the picture of an older Gaara since the last time I saw him.

'That's right, last night I had gotten a letter from him, the first one. Wait, I didn't even read the scroll' I began to look on my bed, just to see the mess on my floor.

'Urg, that's definitely getting cleaned up' picking up the papers, I saw that one of them was the scroll. I placed the papers on my desk, unrolled the scroll, and began to read what was written:

 _Hikari_

 _It's Gaara. I'm fine. I am Training to get better control of my sand. My brother, sister, and I get along better. Dad still doesn't like me, but has stopped trying to kill me. People still don't like me, but doesn't seem to bother me as much as before. No friends yet, but I still try to be good. If you're trying to become ninja as soon as possible, then I'll do the same. Hope to see you again soon. Wish you lived here too, but happy it's at a village were alliance to. Send me soon as you can, and I'll do the same._

 _Gaara_

Staring at the scroll after reading it for a moment, I began to laugh. It appeared that Gaara was as shy as ever. It was too short! But, something did catch my attention; he didn't mention anything about his uncle. How curious.

Rolling it back, I decided that for the next letter, I would let Gaara know about Naruto. Besides writing one, I and Naruto would have to get our picture taken for Gaara to see him.

Placing the picture frame on my desk, I decided to do my daily exercise early, and then freshen up.

Finishing my workout, I started walking home. People were starting to get up and prepare the vendors around, so I decided I would stop at one of the bakery's and get some Danishes. I got a dozen mini cherry ones, and a dozen mini cheese ones. I figured I would give Naruto one once I got home.

* * *

Once I got home, I placed the bag of Danishes on kitchen table, and went to shower. After I finished, I saw that my parents were awake, all dressed, eating breakfast.

"Hikari, did you go to a bakery today?" Mother asked me.

"Hai; after I finished my workout today, I saw a bakery, and decided to grab some." I heard a knock on the door, "I'll get that."

Opening the door, I saw it was Naruto, "hey, see I can get up early. Are you ready to go?"

"Let me grab something first" I grabbed my bag and the bag of Danishes, "Naruto's here, bye mom, bye dad" I closed the door, and the two of us proceeded to walk to the academy. We left pretty early so we got there half an hour early.

Once we settled down in our seats, I began to eat the mini Danishes, "hey Naruto, want one?" I offered him.

"Really, thanks Hikari-chan" Naruto began to eat with me. When did he add the chan to my name?

As we proceeded to eat our Danishes, the class slowly filled. I saw Sasuke enter, and our eyes locked. I smiled and gave him a wave; he just scowled, and walked to his seat.

Naruto saw our interaction, and I knew he was about to say something, so I whispered to him first, "Shh, I know how you feel about him, but one day we'll have to work with him as ninja's, so I'm trying to get him to open up, even if he's rude about it. The more one isolates themselves, the greater the explosion will be."

"What does isolation mean?" Naruto asked.

"Means 'wanting to be alone', they try to shun people away from them" I explained

"But, he's supposed to be my rival" Naruto mumbled.

"Couldn't I be your rival, seeing as I beat him in a spar?" I asked.

That got him to widen his eyes at that, then smiled, "Hai, you did beat him, and as long as you keep beating him, I'll mark you as my rival. You more fun to have as a rival anyways."

I just giggled at that. The class had almost filled up by that point. I observed the class, and noticed that most of the female population were looking, and giggling, towards Sasuke's direction, while he purposely tried to ignore them. I couldn't help but laugh at this. 'Fan girls eh? If they act like that, most of these girls won't make it as ninjas.' Maybe it wasn't fair of me to say that, but traveling, and getting trained the way I did, couldn't make me see how they could possibly become one. Naruto gave me an odd look, but then shrugged, and continued to eat his sweet breakfast.

I continued to look around the class, and noticed that a student, who recently entered the class, was staring at my direction, and then blushed. I turned to look at who she was staring at, only to see it was only Naruto next to me, still eating. That was interesting, she would file that for later; the class was about to start. I looked forward to see the blackboard, and saw Sasuke staring at me. I just smiled back at him, and he scowled. I decided to be a bit playful, and stuck my tongue at him, Naruto copying me, and this furthered his scowled, making him turn away. Giggling, Iruka-sensei began the lesson for the day.

* * *

Class was practically the same as yesterday. History and rules of ninjas, then lunch, then sparing, this time me and Naruto faced different opponents. Naruto faced some other civilian, who appeared too slow that Naruto won the round and I was faced with a civilian girl, who I beat in one move. After class was done, I told Naruto that I would meet him at the same training ground at 5; I wanted to talk to the hokage this time. Before I left, however, Sasuke had approached me.

"Fight me" he said.

I blinked, before remembering that I was supposed to think that he was a mute.

I feigned surprise, "Ahh, you talked. Why didn't you say anything yesterday? now I feel bad!"

He scowled once he realized that a lot of students were circling from that outburst, "shut up, I don't talk because I don't like talking to people. Now, fight me." He never usually showed his emotions, but it looked like I was able to push his buttons. He started to get into a fighting pose, causing cheers of 'fight' to come from the circle around us.

"Why do you want to fight me?" I asked. I was really curious why anyone would want to fight like this.

"To prove I'm stronger"

"Fine, I forfeit, now you're stronger"

"Not like that dammit"

"Like what then?"

"I'm truly stronger if I beat you"

"Why don't you just train with me if you want to be stronger?"

"I don't need anyone to be the best"

"Then you'll never win"

Sasuke had finally lost his temper, and charged at me. I just stood still, until he was at punching distance. I decided just to humiliate him this time instead of playing around. Just as he tried to punch me, I grabbed his arm, and flipped him over with my fast reflexes. I placed my foot on his chest, pushing hard for it to hurt. Sasuke grunted, and then started to wince in pain once he felt the pressure on his chest.

"That's the difference between us Sasuke. I train with others to get strong, you train on your own and that's why you're weak" I let go, and before Sasuke could get up and turn around, I had shushined away, getting a lot of gasps from the class. I stayed nearby to see how Sasuke would react; I felt if I kept putting down his pride, perhaps he would finally start to see his error. I know for a fact that I use to think like that, until I was constantly beaten to finally accept help. It's like a boiling a frog; you slowly let the temperature boil, and before the frog knows it, it's too late. It's the same with Sasuke; if he continues to constantly getting beaten down; slowly he'll finally accept help, and not notice that he's forming an unlikely bond.

It appeared that whispers had started spreading around the circle of people, making Sasukes scowl deepen. He ran as fast as he could to get away.

Well, it was a start, and I began to make my way towards the hokage tower.

* * *

He was not weak. He was the top of his class, an Uchiha. He had to catch up to that _man_ no matter what. How was that girl strong? He thought that because he had underestimated her last time, he could beat her by taking her seriously. Was she only playing him during the class spar? Why? It made no sense, they were the same age.

He made his way home, and started practicing his shuriken throws, getting perfect aim. He would show that he was the best, no matter what. From now on, she was his rival.

* * *

Hiruzen was quite pleased that there were barely any paper works today. Apart from the monthly meetings, and assigning missions, he barely had any paperwork to do. It was one of the positives of having peace over the five nations for now.

'I should perhaps take a scroll in the village later on' he thought, until a knock at the door was heard.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Hokage-sama, a child from the academy wishes to speak to you, should we let her in?" The anbu asked.

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow at that; what would an academy student want with him?

"You may let her in" he stated, in which the anbu bowed, and left to tell the child that they may proceed.

The person, who entered, however, surprised him greatly; it was none other than the new child, Hikari.

"Well if it isn't young Hikari-chan. To what do I owe this visit" he said.

Hikari bowed, "Hokage-sama, thank you very much for meeting me. It's about Naruto."

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow at that; what about Naruto?

"What about young Naruto-kun? Has he done something?" Hiruzen asked.

To his surprise, she showed a bit anger, before hiding it behind a blank face, "no, he's very kind, and so far has been nothing but respectful to me as a friend. What I wish to know is why people look at him differently?"

Although he didn't show it, he started to get uncomfortable, "What look do mean by that Hikari-chan?"

"Everyone looks at him as if he shouldn't be there. Whenever we walk together, glares are pointed our way, but it's actually at Naruto. It doesn't make any sense" the blank face from before was slowly fading away, revealing the anger she was spouting.

Hiruzen sighed at this; it was like talking with her mother over again about this topic.

"I'm sorry, but it's forbidden for me to say. Just know that Naruto-kun is indeed a good person."

Hikari fidgeted for a moment, before talking again, "does he have a monster inside of him?"

This had Hiruzen widen his eyes for a moment, causing Hikari to nod once she noticed his reaction, "he does, doesn't he?"

Hiruzen coughed to clear his throat, before asking a question in return, "What makes you think that having a monster in him is the only way for people to look at him like that?"

Hikari hesitated for a second, before relenting on her answer, "Back when I was in Suna, I had made a friend who was looked at exactly the same way Naruto's looked at. He told me the reason people hated him was because he was a reminder of the past they wished to forget, a monster. Everyone gave him cold looks, including his father. He told me a monster was sealed in him. It's the same as Naruto isn't it?"

Hiruzen took a closer look at Hikari, and noticed something; her eyes didn't show any fear, just curiosity.

'Interesting for a young child to be so observant' Hiruzen decided to take a risk at revealing part of the truth, indirectly at least.

"What would you do if that was the truth?" he asked.

She shrugged her shoulders, "Wouldn't make a difference, just curious." and Hiruzen could tell that she spoke the truth. It also told him something else; Suna had a Jinchūriki as well hidden in their rank.

He sighed at this, but felt that it may be a good thing if Naruto's age knew and accepted him none the less, "He doesn't know himself, and I wish for him not to know until he becomes a ninja. I trust you keep this information to yourself as it is a secret no one should talk about, and is punishable by death if spoken. I know it doesn't fully answer your question, but if what you said about your friend is true, it's exactly the same thing in regards to Naruto" this got her eyes to widen.

"He's the same, and yet not the same" Hikari mumbled to herself.

"What was that Hikari-chan?" Hiruzen asked.

"Oh, just me mumbling Hokage-sama; thank you for answering my questions, and I promise to keep quiet about it" Hikari bowed, and then left the room.

Hikari really had surprised him; he never would have thought that she would figure out, at least a part of the truth, what made Naruto different. He guessed it helped that she befriended someone who was in a similar situation as Naruto in Suna.

'The question is though, whose Suna's Jinchūriki' he realized with a groan that he should have asked Hikari that piece of information. Well, only time would tell, seeing they have an alliance with Suna for the time being.

* * *

There we go.

I wish for feedback for this chapter. I don't really know how I feel about it personally, just that it will be the starting for how the story proceeds afterwards.

Major feedback will be appreciated this time around.

Thanks.

Cheers


	8. Chapter 8

Hi everyone

I'm pleased to see the amount of traffic I'm getting, thanks to those that follow and favored this story to their list.

I tried my best for this story to make sense when reading, so if anything feels confusing, please let me know.

Enjoy

I don't own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 7

The next couple of weeks had slowly become a routine for Hikari, and need to say no day was ever boring in Konoha. After getting part of her question answered by the hokage, Hikari kept herself close to Naruto; she made sure to defend him if it looked like he wouldn't be able to. Also, she and Naruto had gotten their picture taken together, and had sent it to Gaara. Gaara was pleased and wished to meet Naruto as much as Naruto wished to meet Gaara; excited in making another friend.

Another thing that she learned about Naruto was that even though he seemed capable of practicing long hours on the field for training, he could barely keep focus when it came to reading and writing. When she asked, he said that no one ever taught him. This caused her to ask her mother for help, which she willingly complied. Even with the help though, Naruto was too impulsive that sometimes during study time he would lose his temper at not understanding things, causing him to throw papers around. Naruto was just better at learning things physically than mentally.

In terms of herself, however, she learned that a lot of the boys seemed to be friendlier with her after that scene with Sasuke, and they would take whatever chance to talk to her whenever Naruto was not around. She was polite for the most part, but when they would insult Naruto, she would stop the conversation altogether. The class was starting to think that they liked each other. Gossip, unfortunately, was part of life. It seemed to bother Naruto, but he did his best to ignore it.

Another interesting thing that made Hikari's stay at the academy, apart from Naruto's pranks (not that she would ever admit that last part) was the reactions she would get from the class in terms of Sasuke Uchiha. After she had defeated him in front of the circle that had surrounded them a few weeks ago, a rumor spread that the new girl (Hikari) had defeated the top student in their class (Sasuke) and thus, his respect of his peers, except his fan girls, had started to slowly disintegrate. At first, bullies thought they could get away with making fun of him, but then after the beating Sasuke gave them, it made them realize that humiliated or not, he was still exceptionally skilled for his age. Her relationship with Sasuke didn't improve either as she slowly began catching up to his status as top student in the class. The glare he would give her would always intensify whenever she beat his record, or when she would just smile at him.

Most of the girls didn't really seem to like her, but the one that she noticed that wasn't in that cluster of haters was the shy Hinata Huyga. After the first week, she learned that on Fridays the girls would be taught about flowers, while the guys were taught camping for survival outdoors. While most of the girls in the class avoided her, she saw that Hinata was just as alone as she was. The interaction was amusing to say the least. She had learned that Hinata was very shy, and didn't have any friends in the academy. She stuttered a lot to, so Hikari thought that perhaps having her and Naruto talk wouldn't be the best decision if Hinata was shy to the point of stuttering during their talks.

Hikari made a point to hang out with her, before going to meet Naruto for training after the academy. Hinata had started the first few days to hang out with her, but when one time Naruto came to join in, she fainted. After that she told her that they would hang out after the academy for two hours, before Hinata would need to be home for her own training from the clan.

Other than that, though, most of the class seemed to avoid her, be friendly with her, or just act indifferent. Iruka-sensei was really nice though, and always answered whatever question she or Naruto would ask, even if the class would laugh at them.

"Remember, those who ask a question is a fool for five minutes, but those who don't ask a question is a fool for life" she had at one point said to Naruto when she had asked him why he never asked when he didn't understand. This got him to brighten up, and started asking questions when he was awake to pay attention in class.

All in all, the first month had been fun so far in Hikari's opinion; even the nightmares she once had had all but vanished.

* * *

"Again Naruto" I said to him. As our routine every day since I joined the academy, me and Naruto was practicing a justu that would be reviewed tomorrow for class.

"Henge!" Naruto yelled out, transforming him into Iruka-sensei.

"The nose is a bit off, otherwise the rest of him is perfect" I said. While Naruto had been practicing, I had been reading a book of the body and how to repair tissues; speed was great, as well as strength, but I figured something else should be required for future reference.

Dropping on his butt, Naruto looked completely worn out, "Man I'm tired. How the hells were you able to do this so easily Hikari-chan. Apart from the weight training you do, this henge is a piece of cake for you."

After the first week of discovering that I was in a different level of skill than my classmates (not being arrogant, just a fact), I bought weights to help improve my strength and speed. I had started with five pounds, and just had them increased to ten a few days ago.

I got a set for Naruto as well, and although he was reluctant at first, wore them as well. He still was at five pounds, but it wasn't fair for me to compare the two of us; I've been training since I was five years old by my dad.

"I think it's because you have a lot of chakra Naruto; most people couldn't have kept going the way you did. Having a lot of chakra will be advantageous for you in the future, but you need to have better control of it or else it's going to waste" I said, never taking my eyes off of the book.

"How do I control it?" Naruto moaned, as he lied down on the grass.

That got me to pause as I realized something; ever since my family had moved here I had completely forgotten to finish the tree climbing practice. Dad had mentioned that it helps with chakra control, and that he would teach me the next level once mastered.

"I think I have an idea for that Naruto, but perhaps after the weekend we'll give it a try. For now, keep practicing the henge for tomorrow" After all, the review was tomorrow for this justu, and we used the weekends to recover over bodies in order to not burn out. The book that I was reading said so, along with dad mentioning that muscles could get weaker without proper rest.

Groaning, Naruto shakily got up, and once again brought his fingers together to perform the henge. It was always fun watching Naruto mess up the henge, but I would never say such a thing; enough people make fun of him in class for it.

* * *

"Sir, I just received word that the next shipment will arrive sometime next week at noon. Shall I head to the hokages office to request pickup?" one worker asked.

"No, I'll head there myself. I wish to speak with the hokage on a matter anyway" Kori responded. It was close to 5 pm, and he was ready to close the shop for the evening, "You can head home early if you want, I'll just close the shop in another hour."

"No, it's alright sir, why don't you head for the hokage tower now, I'll close the shop for you"

Nodding, he tossed the key to the man he hired, and proceeded to the tower. For the past month Kori had been busy to the point where the majority of his spare time was spent on eating and sleeping. He was trying to get the business up and running so in the later months he'd have time to spend with his pregnant wife. If the first time she had been pregnant was anything to go by, then the second time around will be just as tough.

"Sir, may I help you with something?" The person at the receptionist said.

"Yes, I wish to make a request for a team to help with the shipping coming in next week?" Kori stated.

"Umi, please send Kori Chami in, there's a few things I wish to ask of him. Send a mission for D-rank on his request; those genin should be able to handle it" the voice behind the door said.

"Hai Hokage-sama. I shall place your request in. Please enter Hokage-sama's office" the lady now known as Umi said.

Giving thanks, Kori walked in to see the hokage standing, looking out of the window.

"The village is beautiful this time of the day; the sun gradually lowers, coloring the village with its bright colors" the hokage said, not turning around from the view.

"You wished to speak to me hokage-sama?" He asked.

Finally turning around, the hokage smiled at him, "yes. A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of having tea with your wife. How is she doing, you guys moved without any issues I trust?"

"She's doing well. It's only the second month so mainly morning sickness and it's a bit harder for her to stomach things. When she was pregnant with Hikari, she couldn't stop eating" Kori smiled at the memory; whatever income he made would mainly be spent on food for his wife; she never had morning sickness when she was pregnant with Hikari.

"I'm just trying to get the business set up as soon as possible to open so I will have more spare time to attend to her once she's in her final months before the birth."

The hokage smiled at him, "you are a good man to your family Kori; most good men are hard to come by."

"Thank you sir, your too kind" Kori gave a little bow at this.

"I'm just stating the fact. There are many good ninja's in this village that would give their life for the village, but most of them are not that great of a person. Along the line of training to be a shinobi of the village, I believe they slowly started chipping away at their humanity. The few who do keep it, there will is incredible" the hokage seemed to be talking to himself at this point.

Kori already knew all of this, once being a shinobi himself, but hearing the hokage talk about it, plus the fact that the hokage had tea with his wife, made him feel like a message was trying to be told.

"….my wife told you about her displeasure with our daughter becoming a shinobi, didn't she" it wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"She didn't state her displeasure, but I did get the feel of it. I suppose most parents who aren't a ninja would worry about the safety of their children. Your wife did mention something about young Hikari-chan that she didn't really wish to indulge in. I won't press if you do not wish to share it, but I am curious none the less" Hiruzen corrected him.

"What did my wife say?"

"She mentions something about Hikari-chan being scarred for life of a certain event."

This caused him to stiffen slightly; that day wasn't one of the worst things he had seen (being trained to be a ninja and all), but it was enough to leave a mark for one such as Hikari at that age.

"I don't wish for other to know sir, if there's any way to keep that piece of information private, I'm willing to indulge you. I know I can't order you for such a thing, but this is something I don't ever want getting out; Hikari doesn't need to be reminded of that night."

This caused the hokage to narrow his eyes but activate something, causing a feel of genjustu to fall over the room.

"I have activated a silencing seal. Whatever is spoken in this room will not leave these walls. Whatever you wish to speak of, I'll give you my word that it won't be mentioned to anyone without your permission" Hiruzen explained.

"Thank you Hokage-sama, and it's not that I don't trust your village, it's just-

"No need to explain. I have already mentioned before that this village is filled with good shinobi, but not really good people. That doesn't mean they have ill intentions, but you never know who to talk to. Now, please sit so we may begin" the hokage proceeded to sit down at his seat, as Kori sat in the chair in front of him.

"I always worry about my people, and since your daughter will eventually be a shinobi of Konoha, I would like to get an understanding of her" Hiruzen stated, "I know your no longer willing to be a shinobi, but since my interest of your family has piped my interest, I feel it's probably best that if there's any repressed emotion, memories, or internal struggle within you, then I should be the one to hear your story. I won't tell a soul without your consent, I give you my word."

"I understand. What do you wish to know?" Kori asked.

"Well, perhaps it would be best to begin with your story first; what was your life like as a child till now?"

Kori couldn't understand how a man with such a status could be so kind; he had been trained for most of his life that kindness was a weakness if you were shinobi, and yet the man of the village was willing to talk to a stranger about his past life. Kori had never told anything about his past to anyone. Even his wife only knew that he never wanted to be a shinobi growing up.

"Well, I've never told anyone about my past, and the ones who know are long dead now" Kori said.

Hiruzen just waved with his hands as if stating for him to begin. He felt at ease with the atmosphere of kindness around him.

"It all begins when I was three years old, and my father told me that he was going to make me a shinobi. The first rule to a shinobi was kill, or be killed, and he showed me that by beating me every day as he called it 'training'."

* * *

And there we go. So Now a bit of Information on the family is going to be revealed. The Hokage can't help but feel curious after seeing a bit of similarity with Hikari, and Itachi when he was younger. He worries and doesn't want the same mistake to happen.

Reviews always appreciated.

I'm debating if I should make Hikari graduate early or graduate with the class. If anyone have any suggestions, please let me know.

Cheers


	9. Chapter 9

H Guys

I appreciate the feedback people are giving me.

I haven't made up my mind yet in terms of when to graduate, but I'm following the anime where after Itachi, no one else will graduate until they reach age 10. So there's still time before that.

Anyways, this story is mostly about Kori, so let me know if somewhere doesn't make sense, or I should have included something for an explanation.

Enjoy

Don't own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 8

Silence echoed in the office for a few seconds. Kori looked at the sandmine face to see that it had gone hard from that statement.

"Continue" he ordered.

"When I say beaten, I mean that I would attack, he would attack me without holding back, state the technique of taijustu to me, and then make me attack him with that said technique. He said pain was a good lesson and it would make me immune to it in the foreseeable future. Afterwards, my mom would heal me up; she knew medical ninjustu. I was never allowed to have friends, and the routine was the same thing every day; whether it was taijutsu, or ninjutsu, he would use it on me first, and then teach it to me. It was a good thing he only knew rock affinities, the bruises never left a mark because of that. When I was ten, he began taking me with him as a hunter for clients. I was strong, and was able to defeat my enemy, but I couldn't kill him. My dad knocked the ninja unconscious; he put the kunai in my hand, and took both of his hands and put them around mine that was holding the kunai. He, with his grip, made me plunge the kunai deep into that ninja's chest. It was deep enough for me to feel the blood around my fist. I puked after that. My dad punched me afterwards; told me not to feel any compassion for the one who I killed; that was part of being a shinobi. After I got up, I yelled out that I didn't want to be a shinobi anymore. That was the worst beating I had ever gotten. He just left me there; saying 'only shinobi are worth anything, and there was no way his son would be seen as anything but one.' It was dark when I came to, and I limped until I reached home. Dad was gone, but my mom spent all night patching me up."

Kori rubbed his chest, as if a past memory was being plastered onto his body. He was saying this all with a straight face, but by this point he was talking more to himself than to the hokage, as if he was trying to remember something.

"My mother wasn't a ninja; she was a medical ninjutsu expert though. She couldn't defend me from my father, and whatever my dad taught me would always be contradicted my mom. My dad taught me ruthlessness and strength, but my mother would always say kindness was a different kind of strength, and one day I would be able to prove it by surpassing him; it was the only thing we could think at the time that would save us. Two years later she died of a disease that no one knew how to treat. My father by that point had me almost convinced of his way of being a shinobi; I killed, stole, bullied, with almost feeling no remorse", I pulled a locket out of my pocket, "this was the only thing reminding me what my mother told me, that strength could be seen through kindness, and only by surpassing my father would I be free."

The hokage looked like he wanted to murder something; Kori could feel the killing intent coming from him.

"Sir….?"

Looking startled, the killing intent vanished, and he just sighed, "Sorry Kori, your story is just making it hard not to be angry, I couldn't even imagine the abuse you must have had to endure both physically, and mentally."

"Well, I suppose if it wasn't for Sora I would have turned into the man my father wanted me to; acting as no more than a tool" Kori gave a small smile at this.

"Oh?" A look of curiosity and amusement played in his eyes.

"Hai, like I said before, I wasn't allowed to do things my own way, so I never had a friend. When I was nineteen, my father had gone for an extended assigned mission for three months. That left me alone in the house for that time. Sora was seventeen. She and her large group of family had moved to the village I lived in, and opened a weapons shop. It's where I met her. I was rough, and always rude when I went there for weapons, or if I ever saw her on the roads. She would just smile at me, or sarcastically reply back to a comment I would make. After a month, she had come over to deliver some handmade weapons I had ordered, only to find me sick, sleeping out on the porch. I don't really remember what happened that day, but from what she told me, I was burning with fever, and she stayed by my side to take care of me. I asked her why she would do that, only for her to say she was worried about me. I asked why again, and she said that we were friends and friends look out for one another. I never had a friend, nor did I expect her to say that about us, so it really put me in a state of shock. After that day, I started seeking her, asking her questions, trying to be kind. She would ask sometimes to see me wield my weapons, or when we'd hunt, but never about my personal life. She reminded me of my mother. I felt an emotion I had almost forgotten, and another emotion I never knew of. Because of the way I was raised, I had no idea I was falling for her." Kori stopped at this, finding it painful to replay a memory.

The hokage chose to hold his silence, knowing the look in Kori's eyes so well as most ninja's look when their feeling guilt.

"She had brought me to the meadow, where a bunch of different flowers grow. I, who have trained and seen violence most of my life, was speechless at the scene; I never knew such a thing existed. We weren't able to enjoy the scenery for long though. We were attacked by rouge ninja's. I told her to hide while I fought them off. I had defeated them all, but one of their attacks had hit her in her hiding spot, close to her heart, and she was low on blood by the time I got her to a hospital. For two weeks she was in a coma. By that time, my father had returned from that hired mission he did; he had changed. He looked me with sad eyes, something I had never thought my father, who told me to not feel anything, to show. Imagine my surprise when he actually hugged me, something he never did either. I asked him what was wrong, but he just broke down. He started saying a bunch of apologizes; to me, to my mother, how sorry he was the way he raised me, and he was not worthy of being a father. I never figured out what happened on his mission, but the mission consisted of protecting a king and queen of a small town. He had a picture of the queen on his person at all times, and sometime, when he thought I wasn't around, I could hear him crying."

"Love" Hiruzen said.

I nodded, "I didn't know it right away, but that was what happened. He had fallen for the queen, and it changed him. I found out years later that the queen was killed by the king, but the effect she had on my father was still there; a violent man, who was prideful of his shinobi way, to become someone who actually feels for others. It didn't only surprise me, but people who knew him from beforehand. The people who he used to hang out with, he stopped seeing them. He began to talk with the old people of the village, started helping others around when he could, and stopped caring about finding missions. Apparently, I had changed too from his perspective. We had our very first conversation that didn't have anything to do with shinobi life, and he never brought his mission up ever. When I finally chose to bring him to meet Sora, who was still in a coma, I was startled to hear him say that she was a lovely woman. He put a hand on my shoulder, and said to fully acknowledge my emotions and not hide them anymore. After hearing him say this, I began to breakdown. A man, who had been trained to bury his emotions, finally let out all the pain and suffering of years of abuse, anger, and sorrow. He hugged me for the second time in three days, started apologizing again, and told me to never become what he had; to be my own man. By releasing my pent up emotions, I was able to discover that I was able to feel the love I felt for Sora. Sora, who never looked at me the way everyone else in the village did, who took care of me when she saw I was sick, who showed me things I never knew existed. I barely left her bedside, until she finally woke up. She asked me the exact same things that I had asked her when I had been the one sick. I laughed at that, something which surprised her as I hadn't laughed in such a way before. Afterwards, life began to change for the better for me. My father tried to reconnect with me on an emotional level, never once mentioning the life as a shinobi. He wasn't perfect at it, but he was trying. I learned as well that Sora had also fallen for me; it was the day she had taken care of me when I was sick. Her family and my dad approved. When I turned twenty one, we married, and later had Hikari. Unlike with me, my father acted like the man I had always wanted him to, and Hikari was the most energetic child you would have ever met. I told my father that I didn't wish for her to become a ninja, and he just told me to make sure to ask Hikari before making that decision. I thought he was still holding that belief that unless you were shinobi, you were nothing, but that wasn't the case. He told me just because I didn't want her to be a ninja, didn't mean that she didn't want to be one, and by denying her the choice, it would be the same thing as him giving me no choice but to be one. I didn't get it at the time, and we had a brief argument about it, but since Hikari was barely three at the time, we didn't dwell too much about it. I had joined in on Sora's weapon business, and learned all I could from them. Those five years of my life was probably the best I've ever lived, and my only wish was if my mother could have been there."

"I'm happy to hear you got your happy ever after in the end" Hiruzen said with a smile on his face.

"Thank you sir, if it's not too much to ask, could I continue this at another time? It's getting late" Kori said.

"Of course Kori; we'll continue this another time. I wish to hear the rest of your story; you've lived quite a life to be able to still find joy in it."

Getting up, Kori walked towards the door, but before he went through it, he whispered something that required the hokage to strain his ears to hear, "Sora and Hikari are the reasons joy for my joy. I would have given up had I lost them too."

Hiruzen had to blink at this; the story that he had just listened to would have broken many men had they been in a similar situation as Kori had, and yet, Kori was able to show true joy in his eyes as he spoke and conversed.

'This Chami family is becoming more and more interesting by the minute'

* * *

Dinner was set up, but Kori hadn't shown up yet. This was starting to worry Sora; he was always home before 8.

"Hikari, Naruto-chan, dinners ready" Sora called out. For the past month, after her talk with the hokage, she had taken it upon herself to help the young boy. She would invite him to come over every day, and when Hikari had told her that Naruto didn't know how to read, she took her time to teach him reading and writing. While it was frustrating, she was none the less pleased when Naruto had finally understood. Six to Seven days of the week she would invite Naruto to have dinner with them so the young boy wouldn't be lonely, and unless Naruto couldn't make it, he always came over. Studying with Hikari seemed to help him a bit in his studies.

The two just came and sat down; Naruto's table manners had improved as well.

"Kaa-san, where's Tou-san? Hikari asked.

Before she could answer, the door opened up, revealing Kori himself.

"Ohyio" Kori said.

"Dear, what took you so long?" Sora asked; something seemed a little different about him.

"Oh, the hokage and I had a bit of a conversion today. It took longer than I had expected, so we had to stop for the day. Will be continuing it again at another time so I may be coming at this time as well later on in the month" Kori said.

"What did Hokage-jii want to talk about?" Naruto asked.

"Business life, anyways I'll just quickly wash my hands, and we'll start dinner" Kori started to walk away.

"Please hurry up Oji, I'm starving" Naruto yelled out.

Sora followed after her husband while the two kids started talking.

"Dear, is everything alright?" She asked.

Kori turned around, and what she saw surprised her; the smile that he gave her wasn't one of his usual expressions. The smile he had reached his eyes as well, one she hadn't seen in years, "yes, everything is okay. I have a great feeling that we made the right choice in moving here to Konoha."

* * *

And that's that.

I got the Idea for his father from a character in One tree hill. For those who have seen it, Dan was a terrible person, but tried to change later on in the series.

Anyways, I felt that usually when people talk about their dark past, they feel like a burden has been lifted, so that's why Kori seems relieved.

Until Next time.

Cheers


	10. Chapter 10

Hey guys

How was everyones holiday?

Here's the next chapter, and I tried to add a bit of humor into it.

Hope everyone enjoys.

I Don't own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 9

Something felt off about her dad. He seemed more relaxed, and was even smiling! I don't think I've seen him smile like that since before we started traveling.

"So, how was your day you two? Any stories you have for me?" Her father asked.

"No Oji tomorrow is our review on the henge. Me and Hikari-chan are going to kill it" Naruto said, hitting his chest in the process.

"Well, I'm sure you two will do well" Her mother commented.

I chose to be silent and observe my dad throughout dinner as he continued to talk with Naruto. I wonder what he and the hokage could have talked about that would cause such a change.

"I don't feel so good" mother quickly ran to the washroom.

Father followed after her, "dear are you alright."

Naruto turned his head to look at me, and I just shrugged; I wasn't going to explain to him what happened since I figured it wasn't something that could be understood without a long explanation.

Both of them returned, and mom just said she felt tired so she went to her room to rest. Dad said that he was going to stay with her for a bit, and Naruto offered to help me clean up the table after we were done eating. I wasn't really paying attention to what he was talking about until I heard a familiar name he mentioned.

"Say Hikari-chan, do you think that Hinata faints because she's sick?"

Blinking, I raised an eyebrow at that as if asking for an explanation.

"Your mother was so pale after she got sick, and said she felt tired, so I thought perhaps Hinata's just sick, and since there's nowhere to really rest, she just faints" Naruto explained.

I don't know how he thought what happened with my mom and what happened with Hinata had any connection, but it was one of the few times where I was annoyed that his thought process didn't make sense.

"What happened with my mom is completely different with what happens with Hinata. No", shaking my head as he was about to ask, "I don't know, and it's their business. Ask them if you want to know."

Looking a little hurt, he nodded his head, gathered his stuff, waved a goodnight, and left. I sighed, feeling a bit guilty for my response.

I really didn't mean to sound annoyed, but my mind had been more focused on dad that when I heard the unfathomable explanation, I couldn't keep the annoyance out of my voice. I guess Naruto noticed since he chose to leave instead of asking anymore questions. I better apologize tomorrow.

I gathered the rest of my stuff in my room, and got prepared for bed.

* * *

Gaara had been looking at the photo he had received in the mail, along with holding the letter in his hands. It was the first letter he had gotten since he wrote his first one to Hikari . He glanced back at the letter to read it again for the 5th time:

 _Hey Gaara_

 _I didn't know that Suna and Konoha were allied villages. That's great! I'm also glad to hear that your family is getting along better, even if your dad still isn't acting like a dad yet. Sorry to hear that people are still not giving you a chance, maybe becoming a ninja will help them change their minds. I met a boy here that I believe is the same as you. Not too long after I moved into my new apartment did I randomly bump into him. He gave me a tour of the village, and was kind but, the look people gave him reminded me of the time when I would hang out with you and people stared a similar way. He's an orphan so he has no one which is why I'm glad to hear that you and your siblings are getting along better. I sent a picture frame of the two of us; the boy with whiskers is called Uzumaki Naruto. He wishes for people to stop looking at him with those glares you're so familiar with so he plans on becoming hokage as his goal. What do you think? Perhaps you should try for Kazekage to get people to acknowledge you as well. I think it helps if your siblings are on your side. Perhaps you'll eventually get your dad to like you. Anyways, the next time I send a letter Naruto wants to send one with me. He says he really wants to meet you in person. Until next time Gaara._

 _Love Hikari_

Gaara turned his look back at the picture frame; the boy called Naruto had spiky blond hair with blue eyes and whisker like marks on his face. He appeared to be short as himself. His clothe consisted of blue shorts with a green t-shirt that was covered with an orange and blue vest. On his forehead was a pair of green goggles.

'Strange attire' Gaara thought; most people hardly wore such bright colors. What he was curious about, though, was that Hikari said this boy was just like him. What did that mean? Did this boy also have a monster, or was he just shunned upon for something his parents had done? Hikari had said that he was an orphan so he was probably more alone than himself currently. Before Hikari, his life felt like hell, even with his uncle's fake care for him. He truly wanted to meet him to see what the similarities were. Once Hikari reads and sends her next letter, Gaara will ask more questions.

"Gaara, are you in there?" The voice behind the door told him that it was Kankuro.

"Yes, what is it?" He asked in a calm voice.

Opening the door, his brother looked around before spotting the photo in Gaara's hand, "She still sending you messages Gaara? She sure is persistent isn't she" the smirk that was on his face made Gaara feel like he missed out on some kind of joke.

"I suppose; she had just recently settled in Konoha, and has made a friend. This is them in the photo" Gaara handed the picture frame to his brother.

Taking the frame from Gaara, he took a look, and made a face; the girl was Hikari alright, but the boy looked like such a brat.

"Konoha eh; well, at least it's in a village we are on good terms with. Anyways Gaara, I was wondering if you could help me with something" Kankuro asked.

"What is it?" he asked. Even though his relationship with his siblings had improved, it seemed Temari was still a little scared of him. Kankuro on the other hand treated him like he treated everyone else, even when he got annoyed, so he was closer to his brother.

"I had just upgraded my two puppets, and was wondering if you could have a spar with me? Just promise me you won't destroy them though during our spar. I haven't laced them with poison yet because I want to see how they work first" Kankuro explained.

This would probably be the first time Kankuro came to him to meet with instead of him going to Kankuro; he felt warmth fill him.

"Sure, but what about Temari; did you do something to anger her again?" He asked.

"Hey, last time wasn't my fault; she left her fan on the floor, causing me to trip. At least she was able to get the spaghetti out of her hair" Kankuro defended himself.

Gaara couldn't help but smirk at the memory; it was one of the few times where he truly let go and laughed.

"I will spar with you. I won't destroy your puppets, but they might require some repairs based on how serious we get" Gaara said.

"That's fine with me. Let's go" Kankuro left with Gaara following him.

"By the way, dad's going to Konoha to meet up with the Hokage in a couple of months, inviting me and Temari to come once the semester ends. Want to come? I wasn't going to say anything before, but since your friend lives in Konoha now, I thought you might wish to come and see her" Kankuro asked.

Gaara looked surprised; He never talked with his dad except with minimal stuff since neither really like each other, but the fact that something this important was left out made him feel a tad bit annoyed.

"If you can get dad to let me come with you guys, I will come; I wish to see Hikari and her new friend" Gaara answered.

"Cool. And don't worry; I and Temari will vouch for you. And Gaara, don't worry about the kid in that photo, he's nowhere good looking to steal Hikari away" Kankuro laughed, thinking the thought was funny.

"Why would I be worried that he would steal Hikari away; from Hikari's letters, he seems like a really good friend to have" Gaara felt confused by his brothers' words.

"Never mind, shall we get started?" Kankuro prepared his puppets as Gaara nodded.

"Kankuro" A yell came from the left causing the two to turn their heads; it was Temari.

Kankuro began to sweat seeing his sister looking pissed, "Hey sis, what's up?" Kankuro asked as she walked up to him, just to get hit on the head with her fan.

"Don't you 'hey sis' me! What did I say about going into my room without my permission? It's such a mess now" Temari looked like she was getting redder with anger by the minute.

"Ow, hey, how do you know it was me and not Gaara? You have no proof" Kankaruo began putting both of his hands on his head to protect it from abuse. Gaara just raised an eyebrow at the accusation.

"Gaara is too nice and respectful to enter my room without asking. Besides, I don't think he would ever put any make up on his body" Temari answered, trying to calm down.

"Hey, it's not makeup, its war paint!" Kankuro defended.

"So it was you" Temari raised her fan to hit him once again.

"Crap" Kankuro said as he started sprinting away, with Temari chasing after him.

Gaara watched as his two siblings started running around the training ground. It was amusing to say the least. His family was never boring whenever he was around the two. It told him very much that yes, even if the village didn't like him yet, he wasn't alone at least.

'If my family is like this, it's no wonder people would be scared of me; Temari can be just as scary if she chooses to be' a smirk spreading across his lips as he sat down to watch Temari attacking Kankuro.

"Ow, dammit Temari, that hurt! Gaara, help me out here" Kankuro yelled out as he began using his puppets to fight back.

Gaara just smirked some more seeing his sister get another hit on his brother, "Nah, this is more fun to watch."

"Traitor" And that was how the sand siblings spent the evening.

* * *

"Hikari?" Kori knocked on his daughter's door before letting himself in. The lamp still was lit, and a book was lying on his daughters lap while she was sleeping. Walking quietly, he slowly took the book out of her hands, and pulled the covers over her. Taking a look at the book, he was startled to see it was about the human body, and the page she was on was talking about nerves.

'Since when had Hikari showed interest in such a thing?' He knew his daughter to be one of the kinds who enjoyed reading, even if it was never about fantasy stories but about information. Whenever they went to a village, with the exception of Suna, Hikari spent the majority of her time in the libraries. He didn't believe that the academy was teaching this stuff to the students, so he assumed that she had gone to the library to get this book.

'It seems with me being busy with the business, and looking after Sora, I haven't been paying much attention to her daily life' something he planned on fixing tomorrow.

"Dad?" A groggily voice. Looking down, he saw that his daughter was awake, but still half asleep.

"Yes sweetie?" He answered back.

"I'm glad you look happier now; business must be doing well then" she said.

"It is, but we can talk about that later. For now, go back to sleep; you have a review in the academy tomorrow" he said, planting a kiss to her forehead.

She just closed her eyes again; breathing even to tell him that she was asleep. It was quiet pleasant to watch; he doesn't think he ever had seen his daughter sleep so peaceful since she was three.

Turning towards the lamp, he was about to turn it off when something caught his eyes; it was a picture frame. Taking a closer look at it, he recognized the person in the photo; it was the Suna kid with red hair.

'She's still in contact with him?' looking next to it was one of the letters she had gotten a few days ago.

Even though he knew he shouldn't, he couldn't help but feel curious; that boy had seriously injured her a few days before they left, and he wanted to know if he should be worried:

 _Hi Hikari_

 _Hokage huh? I think that sounds good. If he became hokage, and I became Kazekage, then not only would people treat us better, but perhaps our villages would be stronger since we would be friends._

 _I'll start with becoming a ninja, and work my way up there. I would be honored to read what Naruto Uzumaki would like to say. If he's anything like me, and you say he's an orphan, then both of us are willing to be friends. He looks as short as me. I want to meet him. Hope he'll like me. How's the academy? Since people are scared of me, dad won't let me attend. I work with my sand though, so I'm not weak. I think dad plans on making me and my siblings a team since no one else would be with me out of fear._

 _Looking forward to reading you and your friend's letter._

 _Gaara._

Kori was to say the very least stunned; while he didn't really know too much about the boy, it states here that he and Naruto are similar in some way. The memory of a boy with killer eyes did not match the letter he read.

'It looks like I'm more unaware than I thought' one thing for sure he would correct tomorrow was knowing what had been going on with his daughter's life for the past month.

* * *

There we are.

Since Gaara isn't quite alone, he's capable on cracking a smile every now and then.

Hikari proved that she can get annoyed.

Thanks for the feed back on when to make her graduate, I have decided, but you guys will have to wait when it comes to that part of the story.

Now, I was asked if Gaara would turn bloodthirsty sometime in the story, and he may since his seal isn't the most stable, but I thought I would ask the question; do you guys want to see a bloodthirsty one sometime during the story? If not, then there'll just be the angry kind.

Anyways cheers


	11. Chapter 11

Hey everyone

I would have posted earier, but it seems I had reached the 50 document limit, and I wasn't until 20 minutes ago that I had space again to post.

There's a good chance I won't be able to post next week, so if that happens, the week after I'll post two instead of one story. Uploading this has reached my 50 limit again, and since I post my other stories before this one, there's a good chance I won't have space by next Friday.

Enjoy guys.

I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Chapter 10

Today was Friday; the day to present the henge. Naruto had been training all week and was fired up to show the fruits of his training.

But today, "Ring" 'Smash', the alarm clock fell to the ground.

Groaning, he got up, rubbing his eyes. He had been setting his alarm to 6:30 for a month now, but he still hated waking up so darn early.

Walking to the kitchen, he opened one of his cupboards and took out an instant ramen packet. He turned on the hot water to boil, and began getting his things ready for the day.

'I wonder if Hikari-chan is feeling better today' Naruto didn't exactly know what had transpired yesterday to cause his friend to be annoyed, but he hoped it passed since he really didn't want to return back to being on his own again.

Hikari and her family have been so nice to him, and he wondered if that was how it felt to have a family.

'Click' the hot water had finished boiling, and Naruto poured it on top of the instant ramen. He began to wait impatiently for 3 minutes to pass in order to eat his ramen.

'I'll offer to buy something for her, perhaps that will get her to smile again' Naruto thought. Hikari didn't seem like she wanted to talk about whatever it was that was bothering her, so offering something nice might make her feel better again.

The ringer went off, signaling that three minutes were up. He licked his lips and began to eat.

Once he finished, he threw the paper cup away, put on his bag, and began to head out.

Reaching Hikari's apartment, he raised his fist to knock, only for the door to open, revealing Hikari herself.

"Naruto?" Hikari asked. It looked like she was surprised to see him.

"Morning Hikari-chan. You ready for today?" He asked, feeling a little nervous.

He got confused when her surprise turned into a sad face, "listen Naruto, about yesterday….

"Don't worry about it. There's times when I get so mad at Iruka sensei that I pull pranks to vent" Naruto said, plastering a smile on his face.

"But Naruto, you pull pranks all the time" she said, a smile starting to tug on her face.

"Hey, I do not. I just do it a lot" he responded back.

By this time Hikari began to giggle, and he felt relived.

"I'm still sorry, but thanks; I feel better now" Hikari said with a small smile.

"No problem. Now, let's kick the henges butt, dattebayo" he exclaimed, grabbing her arm, and running.

"Naruto, slowdown"

* * *

"Hey, Hikari-chan, after class, will you come with me to the ramen stand? Please, it will be a celebration for doing so well on this henge" Naruto asked.

It looked like Hikari was thinking about it, before giving a nodded, "Sure. I haven't really been there since that first day you toured me around. Is it okay if I invite Hinata with us? I usually talk with her after class, and I don't want to leave her alone for two hours before she has to return back to her clan."

"Sure, but I hope she doesn't faint again. I swear there's something wrong with her; she should see a doctor about it" Naruto said.

"Oh trust me Naruto; a doctor can't help her case, only she can improve overtime" A slight smirk had appeared on Hikari's face.

Naruto nodded, not understanding, but since Hikari was reading up on those books of hers, he figured she would know better than him.

They had reached the academy with half an hour to spare, and already they could see the usual early birds; Sasuke near a window, with a couple of civilian children, and Hinata at the very back.

While the two were waiting, Hikari went back to thinking the previous night about her dad; she hasn't seen him smile so genuine for a long time. A small smile here and there, and a bit of a smirk, but never any laughing, or smile without anything guarded behind his eyes. It was like a weight was lifted from his shoulders, and he could relax.

'I guess I should just let it be; it's actually great to see dad smile like that, just a bit of adjusting to get use to' if anything, she should read up how to help pregnant women from not getting sick. Her mom didn't get sick often, but a smell of some kind of food would randomly make her sick, even though the day before she was just fine with said food.

"Hikari-chan? Hey, Hikari-chan, class is about to begin" this brought her out of her day dream, and looked around to see the students, and sensei, was in class.

"Hello class, Mizuki-sensei had to go on an emergency mission, so it will be just me testing the class. It may take a bit longer, but that's okay. When I call you up to the class, please come before me and henge as me" Iruka-sensei said.

"Were starting with the review right now?" The boy called Kiba said.

"Yes, it's best to get it out of the way so we can move on to the next lesson" sensei replied, looking a tab bit annoyed.

"Troublesome" a whisper from behind said.

"All right, let's begin" and names were being called from the front of the class, starting from the left, towards the right.

"Sasuke Uchiha" squeals were heard, causing me, Naruto, and several other boys in class, to clamp our ears shut.

Sasuke got a perfect, and just walked towards his desk before being dismissed.

It seemed that the majority of the class had a few parts off; some with the nose, others with eyes, and many with the weight. A few managed to get perfect; the girl with pink hair, and the one with yellow hair, was the other two that got perfect.

It was Naruto's turn, and I could tell he looked excited, so before he left I just grabbed his arm to whisper something.

"Hey, I know you're excited, but just calm yourself before you do the justu okay? You'll do much better calm than jumping around"

He looked at me, nodded, and then gradually started to relax as he approached the front.

The class were already starting to whisper, and it was starting to annoy me; something that was starting to annoy Naruto too.

"Go for it Naruto" I yelled out so he would lose the attention, and have it redirected at me.

Naruto looked at me, grinned, and made the hand seals for the henge.

"Henge!" and came out a perfect Iruka-sensei, without the mess-up of the nose.

"Perfect Naruto, you get a perfect score" that shut everyone up.

"Yatta" Naruto let go of the henge, and ran back towards the desk.

"I did it Hikari-chan!" Naruto exclaimed.

"See, I knew you could do it" I responded back; I figured once he saw Iruka-sensei, the image would match perfectly for him.

"Next, Hikari Chami" Iruka-sensei called out. Some of the boys began to cheer for me; gratefully they weren't as loud as the girls.

I went up to the front, placed the hand seals, and got a perfect score for my henge.

A round of cheering from the guys got louder, until Iruka-sensei called for quiet.

After that, only three more students got perfect; a boy with sunglasses, the boy that had mumbled 'troublesome' earlier, and Hinata.

After that, Iruka-sensei sent the class to lunch since it took a majority of 2 hours to complete the review.

* * *

"Hey, Hikari-chan, the teme is glaring at you again" Naruto said, pointing behind me.

Hikari sometimes forgets the nickname Naruto gave to Sasuke, so when she turns to look where Naruto's pointing, she can see that Sasuke is sitting where the tree makes a shade; perhaps so he can hide away from the girls.

Hikari just sighs at this; she thought by catching up to him in the grades, he may finally put that pride aside and ask her for help or something, instead it just makes him angrier. What was even more frustrating was when Naruto began to get better in his grades as well; Sasuke could almost be shaking with frustration.

"Hey Naruto, wait here for a few minutes, I just want to ask him a question" Hikari gets up.

"What let me come" Naruto says, also getting up.

"No, I don't want an argument or fight happening between the two of you. I won't take long" Naruto pouts, but sits back down.

It was true though; the second week Naruto had about enough of Sasuke's constant glare, and began a fight right there. Sasuke had won, but not without supporting a black eye for a week.

The glare seemed to intensify as Hikari got closer, until she was a small distance away from him. She just crossed her arms and stared at him, but he just turned his head away, pretending she wasn't there. After a few minutes, she sat down, still looking at him, picked up a leaf that was on the ground, and blew it in his direction. He at first tried to swap the leaf away, but when he saw that it wouldn't leave his face, he tried pulling it.

"I put some chakra in it so it would stick the instant it made contact. Now you have to talk to me if you wish to get it removed" Hikari said. Sasuke just scowled as he continued to try to pry the leaf off.

Once he fully understood that it wouldn't come off, he looked at her with a look of death if that's what his eyes could do.

"What do you want?" He asks; commands more like it.

"For you to stop glaring; I don't know what your problem is, nor will I ask since I really don't care, but if you continue to keep on glaring, the next time we spar I'll make sure I do more than humiliate you in front of a crowed" she wouldn't really follow that train of thought, but she wanted to see if maybe this angle would work on him.

It didn't, if anything he added a sneer to his glare. Sighing, she decided to try the angle she thought wouldn't work in any way.

"Fine, let's meet up on the weekend so we can deal with whatever issues you have; does ten o clock work?"

"You're not coming over to the district" his response was immediate.

"Then come by my place by ten, otherwise I will come to the district. I won't have your constant glare at me, it's annoying!" she was starting to feel her calm features becoming more strained.

"No!"

"Try to ignore it, you won't like it. Come by ten and we'll not go somewhere where your fan girls will follow, nor will anyone else. And Sasuke, I will come by if you choose not to be there within half an hour after ten" and before he could protest again, Hikari left and went back to where Naruto was sitting.

It may have been a bit too forward to confront him, but she had lost her patience and figured if they were somewhere where no one would follow, he could vent, fight, yell, or do whatever that his mind wants until he wore himself out.

Naruto looked up, and grinned when he saw her return.

"That was more than a few minutes Hikari-chan; I thought you said you wouldn't take long"

"Sorry Naruto, but it's hard to get him talking. I only hope he will stop now, otherwise on the next spar I'll have to be more forceful" she said.

"Hehe, I still can't believe how strong you are despite being pretty small"

"You're still shorter than me"

"But I'll eventually be taller once I hit my growth spurt"

"But right now you're short"

"Am not, dammit"

And Hikari begins to giggle at his words, while he gives her a smile once realizing that she was teasing him; he never takes the short comments personally.

Once the bell rings, they pack their unfinished lunches, and head back inside.

* * *

"Alright class, you've done wonderful with the henge. The next thing I'm going to teach you is the substitution jutsu. It's a bit more challenging because just as it is about control, it's also about timing. I'll show you the hand signs first, then on Monday I'll show you the technique itself, so pay attention" Iruka-sensei said.

And Hikari did. This was a technique she didn't know, and she actually felt excited about it. Naruto looked just as excited as she felt; only he looked like he was going to jump off his seat. After Iruka-sensei showed it to the class a few times, he told us to practice the hand signs since he's going to see everyone do them on Monday.

After that, he began to explain how much chakra it uses, how it tends to be used in combat, which shinobi created the jutsu, anything that had to do anything with the technique he talked about, until it was time for the girls to do flower gathering, and the boys to be taught survival training outdoors.

Just like every Friday since Hikari joined the academy, she and Hinata worked together, listening to what the teacher had to say, and scattered to collect said flower.

Since Hinata likes to garden, this is a subject she can help Hikari with more.

"Hey Hinata, after the academy today, Naruto wishes to eat at a ramen stand to celebrate a well done job at the henge review. He wants you to come as well. Do you want to?" Hikari asks. Well Naruto didn't ask, but Hikari figured it would be better for her to say that otherwise there would be a chance for Hinata to decline the invitation.

"Ano, a-are y-you s-sure it's o-okay?" Hinata asks, poking her fingers together.

"Hai, right after class it done"

"O-okay, I w-would love t-to" Hinata lets out a small smile.

Hikari smiles in response. Hinata doesn't talk much due to shyness and nerves, but with Naruto, it won't be a big deal if she doesn't talk much; listening would be enough for him.

After class is done, the two of them head to where Naruto is waiting.

"Hey Hinata, you're coming with us right?" Naruto smiles as he asks her.

Turning red, she nods.

"Great, let's got then, I got some discount tickets as well so my treat" and with that, Naruto sprints out of the classroom.

"Naruto, wait up" Hikari calls out, chasing after him, with Hinata following.

Before she officially leaves, she catches a glimpse of Sasuke; their eyes connect, and shes certain the look is one of agreement. She couldn't say how, but she knew that she would be seeing Sasuke at her door tomorrow.

* * *

And there we go. Like I said everyone, there's a chance that I won't be able to post due to a limit next week.

I post based on my stories. I start from Tuesday to Friday, but the limited days an uploaded document can stay is about 90 days, and three of my documents will have expired by next week. The fourth will not, therefore i'm not certain I'll have space for this story.

I will promise to upload two the week after if that's the case though.

Here's a sneak peak for the next chapter:

 _Sasuke was not happy. He was never happy, but today he felt extremely displeased. Ever since that girl, Hikari, joined the class, he felt that he had to keep proving why he was the best, why the Uchiha was the top of the village. But instead she showed superiority in skill than him. First it was the spar between the two, then the mocking of him not being able to speak, then the humiliation in front of people, and finally she seems to either equal or surpass him in every activity, academics, and presentation that was held. Although more attention seemed to be transferring to her, thank god, the banshees (fangirls) would start making excuses for him on why he didn't get a better score, which pissed him off even more. No matter how frustrating it is, he would never make any excuses for why he didn't do better than her. That man never made excuses, no matter what, and neither will he if he wishes to get stronger._


	12. Chapter 12

Hi guys

so I know I said I would post two stories, but the truth is I don't have another one ready yet, been to focused on my new story called the Hidden Mockingjay Thats for the hunger games.

Hope you enjoy this one

I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Chapter 11

Sasuke was not happy. He was never happy, but today he felt extremely displeased. Ever since that girl, Hikari, joined the class, he felt that he had to keep proving why he was the best, why the Uchiha was the top of the village. But instead she showed superiority in every skill bettter than him. First it was the spar between the two, then the mocking of him not being able to speak, then the humiliation in front of their classmates, and finally, she seemed to either equal or surpass him in every activity, academics, and presentation that was held. Although more attention seemed to be transferring to her, thank god, the banshees (fangirls) would start making excuses for him on why he didn't get a better score, which pissed him off even more. No matter how frustrating it is, he would never make any excuses for why he didn't do better than her. That _man_ never made excuses, no matter what, and neither will he if he wishes to get stronger.

Today was no different; apart from him, a few managed to get perfect on the henge, even the dobe. The girl though blew it away when she only used one hand instead of two to do the henge. Iruka-sensei would never give additional bonus to those who do better than the requirement, but even he could tell that she surpassed them all with that performance. He couldn't help but glare even more at that. Sasuke hadn't even realized that he had been glaring at her until during lunch when she had walked up to him, her arms crossing her chest. He turned his head, pretending she wasn't there, until she stuck that damn leaf on him. He was appalled when she said she didn't care, that was the first girl that said that to him, guessing she didn't know about the massacre, then scowled when she threatened to find him if they didn't meet up the next day. He didn't want to be around people except when necessary and not even then.

He didn't pay much attention to the class after that, apart from the hand signs. He placed one palm on the cheek where the leaf still was, to not stir up questions from the class. During survival training, sensei had noticed, and managed to remove the leaf before anyone could question the reason for it. It was during this that he decided he may as well meet up and do whatever she wished to do in private. If he got frustrated enough, he could just challenge her to a spar, and this time there would be no bystanders since it would be a place hidden. So after class ended, he had watched her from the corner of his eye. Before she left, he managed to get eye contact with her, and she smiled that damning smile at him before following after the dobe.

Packing his own gear, he headed to the district to get some ninjustu training done in case he would have to use it in any form of spar tomorrow.

* * *

"Hey old man, how you been? I brought my friends with me today" Naruto said as me and Hinata sat down on each side of Naruto. Hinata seemed really nervous though, probably about being so close to him.

"Well I'm glad to see that, what's the special occasion?" The old man asks.

"All three of us got a perfect score on the henge review, so I asked them if they wanted to come. I brought discount coupons with me for all three of us" Naruto pulled out the three slips, giving them to the man for three free ramens.

"Alright, so what would you three want?" The old man asked.

"Beef ramen to start off" Naruto says.

"Seafood ramen for me" I say.

"Ano, m-miso for m-me" Hinata stutters.

"Coming right up" and with that, the man returns to the kitchen to prepare the meal.

"So henge is done, and now onto the kickass justu. But I don't really remember the hand signs" Naruto deflated as he realized what he said.

"Well, on the weekend we'll practice them Naruto. Let's not think about it now though, it's supposed to be a celebration for our good job today" I say.

Naruto brightened up at that, "Right!"

"So Hinata, how long did it take for you to get the jutsu right?" I ask. Hinata is so shy that she won't speak unless she's spoken to.

"I-It t-took m-me a few d-days before g-getting it r-right" Hinata answers, poking her fingers together.

"Wow Hinata, that's so cool. I kept practicing until I was exhausted, and Hikari-chan kept saying I got the nose wrong. But it had to be right if Iruka-sensei gave me a perfect right?" Naruto looks back and forth between the two of us.

"I think because you had a visual that you were able to get it right" I respond.

"Huh?" Naruto looked confused.

"S-she m-means since s-sensei was in front o-of you, y-you saw how he l-looked like. It made i-it easier f-for you to g-get it r-right" Hinata explains.

"Oh, that makes sense, I guess" and before any of us could continue, the ramen bowls were placed in front of us. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until then, and held off conversation to enjoy my meal.

The three of us ate in silence (if you don't count Naruto's eating noise) and sighed when we finished (me and Hinata with one bowl, Naruto with five).

"That was good, thanks old man" Naruto said, waving at him.

"Ano, the meal was g-good" Hinata quietly said.

"Arigato" I let out a polite complement.

He took it in stride, and after Naruto paid for all of us (three free tickets, the rest with money) Hinata had mentioned that she needed to start heading back.

"Hey, why don't we walk you back home Hinata; I don't think I've even seen the Hyuga mansion" I say.

"N-No, it's q-quite-

"Yeah, it'll give us more time to talk if we just walk you home, plus it was nice for you to join us. You should do it more often" Naruto offers. This makes Hinata turn a good shade red.

Before we can continue, a boy who appears older than us, with a similar look to Hinata, comes up to us, "Hinata-sama, your father requests that you come home right now" his voice sounded hard and bitter.

"H-Hai Neji-ni-s-san" giving us one final bow of goodbye, she leaves with the boy known as Neji.

"Man, did you hear how he talks. And look at how he's walking; reminds me of Sasuke-teme. He better not be mean to her or I'll give him a good beat down" Naruto grumbles to himself.

"Sigh, Naruto, is fighting the only solution you can think of? I don't think he'll hurt her, they look related. Plus, he said her father wanted her to come home, so it's fine" I respond. Although I don't agree with fighting him, there's some truth to what Naruto said about there being similarities to Sasuke. I wonder what could have caused someone to speak so bitterly to a kind soul as Hinata.

"So, training?" Naruto asks.

"Not today, but, do you have a letter ready? I finished mine and was thinking of maybe sending it sometime today" I ask him.

"Yeah, I have one. Let's go" and Naruto runs off towards our home.

"Naruto" I giggle before chasing after him.

Naruto had reached his house, and quickly went in to retrieve the letter he had prepared a couple of days ago. Whenever something exciting would happen, he would jot it down so when it was time to send that letter, he would know what to add. A few days ago he just started writing more than he ever thought he could (Almost two pages) of who he was and what life is like and all that stuff. He didn't let Hikari see it, even when she said that she would just correct any spelling mistakes.

"No, it's for him only. He can tell you if he really wants to Hikari-chan" that argument was enough to stop her from asking for the letter.

* * *

Sora had just awoken to one of the nightmares she can't remember. It doesn't happen that often anymore after the first year, but every now and then one would sneak in, and she would never remember what they are about.

She's been over two months pregnant now, and she still couldn't stop from getting sick yet. From what her doctor has said, there were no issues with the pregnancy or her in anyway. It was too soon to tell what gender the baby's going to be, but she couldn't help but feel that it was indeed going to be a boy. And unlike Hikari who loved to eat anything when she was pregnant, this one felt like he would be a trouble maker when it comes to eating anything. She didn't want to be reduced to using the vitamins, but she didn't really have much of a choice at the matter.

She looked at the clock to see that is was past five. She still felt tired, but knew that dinner wasn't going to prepare itself if she didn't get up.

'Five more minutes, and then I'll get up' she said to herself, slowly going back to unconsciousness.

* * *

Hurizen was just cleaning up for the day, when a knock came to his door.

"Come in"

It was the receptionist.

"Sir, Kori Chami is here. He said you wish to continue a conversation of the previous day" she continued.

"Ah, yes I do. Please send him in" she nods, and goes back out. Soon Kori takes her place.

"Good afternoon Kori. I surely hope things are going well today" Hurizen said.

"So far so good; things are running much smoothly than I expected to" Kori says back.

Hurizen activates some seals like the previous day, "I just activated the seals to prevent anyone from listening. It seems my collogues doesn't approve that we let a foreign enter our village. Then again, he was always too cautious to the point it harmed some innocents, so I can't really take his word for it" Hurizen chuckles at this.

"Well then sir, I'm glad you seem to approve of me" Kori responded back.

"Me too; Now, I seem to get the gist of your life growing up, but what about young Hikari-chan that would have 'scarred her for life' as your wife puts it?" Hurizen asked.

"Hikari-chan was always a happy child from the day she was born. She hardly ever cried, even if she hurt herself, and picked up motions a lot faster. Her speaking, walking, running, and even writing some letters seemed easy to her. She couldn't have been happier, until that night happened" Kori's words grew quiet for a bit.

"That night?" Hurizen asked, dreading the response he was going to get.

"The night of the Massacre"

It was as if everything was frozen in time. It brought Hurizen back to the past of a particular unpleasant memory of a massacre that happened last year, but he pushed it out of his mind.

"Massacre?" Hurizen said.

"I never knew, but my uncle had been a missing-in. He had stayed in touch with my father from time to time. When he had returned after two years, I'm not sure what it was, but it was in the middle of the night when he killed my father. Then he started on all of Sora's family, and had begun to make way towards our room. I had been awake around that time (one of my rare nightmares rising) when I heard him. I told Sora to take Hikari and leave while I was facing him. I almost lost too, and managed to not die from blood loss when I found Sora hiding in the underground we made in case the village was under attack" Kori said, having a faraway look.

"After I came to, Sora said she couldn't find Hikari. It had been almost two days since the massacre. Later, after the house had been scanned, and cleaned, the people who found Hikari said that she had been hiding under the kitchen sink. The sink doors never close properly, so she had seen all of it; a lot of Sora's cousins would sleep in the living room, which was right in front of the kitchen. She had seen not just the kill, but the way my uncle had raped one while leaving bloody lines one their bodies. We gathered whatever was left of the weapons place, and started traveling from one place to another. Hikari didn't speak again for almost three years, and who would shy away from everyone, including me and Sora, when they would speak to her. She began to follow my training regime and follow me whenever I would train. I didn't want to get caught off guard again, so I made sure to train on the off chance we'd be facing missing-ins on the road. She would copy my physical training, my meditation, and my weapons throwing, although she would throw wood or rocks instead. It wasn't until after we left the sand village that I began to train her in chakra and the henge ninjustu" Kori said.

"Why did you wait until then to train her in chakra?" Hurizen asked.

"Because during the visit to the sand village, it was the first time she spoke in three years; she had made a friend that nearly killed her."

* * *

Well there we go

I hope you guys enjoyed it.

Btw does anyone else Notice how Traffic isn't recording when a story is read by a reader? I haven't had any traffic record this week which is strange.

Cheers


	13. Chapter 13

Hi everyone

I'm sorry for being really late, I am starting to get busy so I may not be fully consistant with the postings shortly.

Here's the next chapter, hope it's enjoyable as much as me writing it.

Enjoy

I don't own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 12

For the second time that day in his office, Hiruzen pauses. It, unfortunately, wasn't uncommon for a friend to betray his or her comrades in the shinobi world.

"Her friend nearly killed her, why?" He asked.

"I don't think it was necessarily his fault; he seemed to have trouble controlling his sand, and sometimes people would call him a monster. I see the same look people give to Naruto, although they are a bit quieter about their words" Kori says.

That made Hiruzen think of something; the friend Hikari made could be a jinchūriki.

"Who was her friend Kori?" Hurizen asked.

"He was the youngest son of the fourth Kazekage. I'd say the same age as Hikari and Naruto. He's short with red hair" Kori explained.

'It certainly sounds like a jinchūriki from the way he describes it; perhaps I will be able to see him in the months that I'll be meeting with the Kazekage' Hiruzen thought.

"Hikari's gotten better since then?" Hiruzen asked.

"Yes. First with not shying away, then talking again, and then inviting her friend to meet us. After we left, she would keep writing letters to him. Even now, she still sends him letters, but now that we've settled here in Konoha, he sends her letters back" Kori says with a smile.

Nodding, Hiruzen smiles at Kori, "And how is she doing in Konoha?"

"She's more relaxed, and she hasn't had a nightmare since we moved here. Before, she would sometimes wake up with screams in the middle of the night. It lessened after the sand village visit, and now it completely stopped. She's finally healing" Kori said.

"I'm pleased to hear it, and by the look of the sun, I think I should let you go home before I get your wife worried again" Hiruzen says.

Getting up, Kori bows, and heads to leave the room, but Hiruzen stops him for a second.

"Kori, just know that if you ever require to talk about something, your always free to seek me out"

Nodding, Kori heads out.

Hiruzen just turned around in his chair, and thought of perhaps asking the Kazekage to invite his kids, but turned down the thought. If he did that then it would make him seem suspicious.

'Although, I do hope that they choose to come at their own accord' He thought.

* * *

"Naruto, I said slow down" Hikari yelled out as she followed him towards the birds location; they were going to deliver their letters to the Sand village.

"I'm excited. This will be the first time that _I_ get to send a letter, to the _Sand village_ , and it'll be for a _friend_. How can I not be?" Naruto exclaims and Hikari laughs.

Once they reach the location, the same ninja's from a month ago is still there. They still send looks of disapproval towards Naruto, but instead of the cold looks from before, it's more of weariness.

"Hey you two, were just sending letters quickly and then we'll be out of your hair" Naruto says as he quickly climbs up towards the bird, only to slip.

"Whoa" Naruto thought he was going to land on his head, but when the impact didn't happen and instead got placed on his feet, he looked up to see it was one of the guards.

"I'll do it instead, pass it along" dumfounded, Naruto passes the letter to the ninja, who ties it to the bird.

"Where do you want this to go?" The ninja asks.

"To Suna" Naruto says in a quiet voice. He barely noticed Hikari passing her letter to the ninja as well.

Nodding, the ninja whispers to the bird, and the bird takes off.

There's an awkward silence, before Naruto mumbles out a quick thanks, and sprints downstairs.

"Naruto! Sorry guys but I better chase him. Thanks for stopping him from landing on his head" Hikari says.

"….Don't mention it" the ninja says, looking uncomfortable.

She quickly began sprinting after Naruto, noticing that he didn't really go that far, just stopped once reaching downstairs.

"Okay, what was that about?" Hikari says.

"I don't know. I'm not really use to anyone helping me. It was strange to have them help me, even though the look hadn't really changed" Naruto says in a quiet voice.

"Maybe your beginning to change their minds; now that your no longer by yourself, they are seeing you interact with someone who doesn't push you away and it's causing them to rethink their opinion about you" Hikari says.

"But I still don't know why they ever had that kind of opinion about me in the first place! It's just so frustrating when I finally get use to something, then something like that happens and I can't figure it out!" Naruto bursts out, and begins running again.

"Naruto!" Hikari yells out.

"Just let me be" was the call back, stopping Hikari in her tracks. As much as she wished to chase after him, she knew he needed to be left alone for a while. She decided to just walk around the village before heading home.

* * *

Naruto didn't stop after leaving Hikari, he kept running and running, ignoring the people glaring at him, or knocking some things down during his sprint. He kept running until he had reached the hokage heads, and sat on the fourth hokages head.

He was panting, and just looking at the village. The sun was already setting, and he saw the orange color as if painting the village with it.

"It's quite a beauty isn't it Naruto-kun" Naruto jumped at that, and turned to see it was the hokage.

"Jii, I didn't hear you coming" Naruto says.

"Well, after my meeting today, I looked out the window and saw you running. The only time I see you doing that usually are if you wish to come up here" the hokage said.

They were quite for a while, just looking at the sunset with its colors painting the village.

The sudden relaxing atmosphere the hokage had set, caused Naruto to blurt out, "Why do people treat me different?" It wasn't the first time he asked, and Naruto would always get the same answer.

This answer was no different, "I wish I could tell you Naruto-kun; it's not your fault that people look at you differently, or your parents. Just know that only you can make people acknowledge you. Your already getting there is you not?" the hokage asked.

"That's because Hikari-chan and her family moved to the village. They don't know what the people know about me, but won't tell me. All I know is that I somehow remind her of her friend back at Suna because he gets treated the same way" Naruto's voice cracked.

'Oh Naruto, I believe Hikari-chan and her family may know more about you than you think' Sarutobi thought.

"Well, isn't there anyone else?" He tried to sound hopeful.

"Well, I guess Iruka-sensei isn't that bad; he doesn't glare at me, and when I started asking questions, he would actually answer them instead of ignoring me" Naruto said, putting on a thinking pose.

"And anyone in your class, besides Hikari-chan?" Sarutobi asked.

"Well, I think Hinata might be okay with me, but every time we try to speak, she either turns red or faints. I think she's sick jii, but Hikari-chan says there is nothing that we can do about it" Naruto turns to look at the hokage, just to see a smirk on his face.

"What?" Naruto askes, looking annoyed.

"Nothing Naruto-kun, it's just Hikari-chan is right; there's nothing to be done about it. Usually when a person does that, it just means there really shy. I guess you just make her nervous Naruto-kun" Hurizen says.

"But why?" Naruto whines.

"Maybe she's shy in general, or maybe she's been told to not interact with you, but still does and that get her nervous for not listening to her parents. It could be that she's been told about you by her clan, but you appear different than what she was told about and she's not sure what to believe. Either way she's shy by your explanation" Sarutobi says.

This throws Naruto into a loop, but it makes sense; all families tell their kids to stay away from him, and some of those kids have spewed off what their parents have told of him before. It wouldn't be surprising if Hinata was told the same thing, but since Hinata is a naturally shy and sweet person, she can't be mean, and acknowledges him, regardless what her family has said about him.

"Hinata is a kind person; I don't think she has a mean bone in her body. She is also shy too, she keeps stuttering whenever she speaks; Yeah, we are friends" and that realization actually makes him break into a smile.

"Well there you go; already you're getting people to notice you. Now, care to share what happened this time that caused you to run?" Sarutobi said

"I and Hikari-chan went to deliver our letters to the bird deliverers. I tried to climb to tie the letter around the bird's feet, but slipped and almost landed on my head. One of the ninjas there helped me, but he looked uncomfortable doing it. I-I got so use to the look that it was weird when he looked at me different. I guess it's pretty dumb why I ran" Naruto says, rubbing his head in embarrassment.

A sad smile appears on Sarutobi's face; it truly is sad when you're so use to negative reactions that a positive one would make you feel unsure if it's real.

"And how are you feeling now that you've talked about it?" He asks.

"More relaxed, and I guess happier that maybe things are going to get better" Naruto responds with a smile.

"Well I'm glad to hear. Now I need to return to the hokage room before retiring for the evening, I shall let you be Naruto-kun" Sarutobi says, about to leave.

"Ahh, I've been here so long that I may have missed dinner with Hikari-chan and her family" Naruto yells, quickly getting up and sprinting away.

'He eats with the family, interesting' He thought as he continued back to the hokage room.

* * *

After the whole reaction by Naruto, Hikari had gone straight home, placed her backpack in her room, and grabbed the book she had been reading yesterday during practice with Naruto. She had found her Kaa-san sleeping on the couch, and since her Kaa-san looked really tired, she didn't bother to wake her. Tou-san was still not yet home, so reading just seemed to be the only choice.

As she was reading, at some point her thoughts drifted towards what had happened back at the tower where the birds deliver mail outside the village.

About a month about ago, those two ninja's had been discouraging her from hanging out with Naruto, and now today one went out of his way to help him, even if that said ninja was completely uncomfortable by the action.

It wasn't just the action itself; in that action Hikari saw the look he had given Naruto. It wasn't a cold look, but more along the lines of weary, and when Naruto had slipped, the ninja for a moment looked worried. It was probably that worry that had made the ninja uncomfortable.

The door opened, and when Hikari looked, it was her tou-san.

"Tadaima" Kori announced.

"Okaeri tou-san. Kaa-san is asleep" Hikari says, returning back to the book.

"Asleep?" Kori says. He starts towards the couch, and gently shakes Sora's arm.

"Sora, dear, wake up" this movement slowly gets Sora's eyes to open slowly.

"Kori?" Sora mumbles.

"Yes, I just got home now" Kori says.

At first Sora smiles up at her husband, then her face turns sour as she realized something, "I have been asleep the whole time. There's no dinner prepared."

"That's okay, you need to rest. It's expected that you'll be more tired than usual after all" Kori just replies back, stroking her hair.

It was lulling her back to sleep, but before she could, a knock was heard from the door.

"I'll get that" Hikari says, and getting up before either of them could argue.

When Hikari opened the door, it was Naruto, panting, and giving her a big smile.

"Naruto? Why are you breathing so hard?" Hikari asks.

"Sorry…I…ran from…the….hokage heads… here" Naruto breathes out, trying to catch his breath.

"Breathe Naruto, then talk" Hikari says. After a few minutes Naruto was back to his normal breathing.

"I ran here from the hokage heads, realising how late it was. Um, about what happened earlier on, well-

"Don't worry about it. Come on in" Hikari cuts him off, and holds the door open to him.

Naruto smiles, and walks in where both Sora and Kori were.

"Ah, Naruto-kun, me and Sora had been discussing how we should go out today based on your scores on the hedge" Kori says.

"Oooo, I got perfect, and so did Hikari-chan. She can back me up on this one" Naruto says excitedly, looking towards where Hikari was.

"It's true; he even got the nose right this time" Hikari said.

"Well then, how about we go out to a barbecue place one of my co-workers mentioned the other day?" Kori says.

"Yatta" Naruto exclaims.

And so after Sora changes, and Naruto quickly runs back home to take a quick bath, all of them head out to have barbecue for dinner. It was filled with light chatter, and Naruto couldn't stop his excitement from getting a perfect for the first time.

As the night went to a close, and everyone went to bed, with Naruto going home, Hikari's thoughts about what to do about Sasuke the next day filled her mind. She wondered about how his actions or reactions were going to be like, and if there's a way to loosen or drain his anger somehow.

'I guess only tomorrow will be able to tell' Hikari thought as she closed her eyes. She would later wake up to one of those nightmares she couldn't remember, the same thing that happened with her mom, not realising the anniversary of the Massacre was coming close.

* * *

And cut, that's a wrap.

So how was it, hopefully not too boring of a chapter.  
next one deals with Hikari and Sasuke, along with that date of the massacre approaching.

Cheers


	14. Chapter 14

Hey everyone

I would have had this posted earlier, but my internet and electricity went out 3 days ago. I just got it back not too long ago.

So it's finally time for the confrontation.

Enjoy

I don't own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 13

Hikari woke up, screaming, with cold sweat clinging to her pajamas. Looking at the clock, it read 5:30 a.m., earlier than the usual time she would get up.

Since it was the weekend she didn't have to do her morning routine, but for some reason she felt she had been running for miles.

What was bothering her was the fact that she couldn't remember what the dream about, just knew that it was a nightmare because the only time she would wake screaming were during her nightmares in the past.

Hikari got up, and went to the bathroom to shower off all the sweat, tears she hadn't noticed until removing her pajamas, and the dreamless nightmare away.

She made the water as hot as she could handle, and stayed under it until she was fairly pink and wrinkled.

It was working somewhat, gradually relaxing the muscles she hadn't noticed that were tensed from the nightmare.

Even though she didn't remember the nightmare, she had a fair idea on what the nightmare would have been about because that's the only nightmare she ever sees when she sleeps; the Massacre.

It has been more than a month since she had dreamt about it, and she guessed along the weeks she had relaxed so much in Konoha that this took her by surprise.

After finishing her shower, she put on simple clothing, wearing a dark red sleeveless shirt, along with some black pants. She stripped her sheets that were covered in sweat and tears then went to the kitchen to make some breakfast.

No one appeared to be awake, so Hikari figured no one heard her scream, although, her dad use to come to her every time when she would, until he just stopped and kept an eye on her actions afterwards.

She made a simple meal; toast and green tea. But even though it was simple, she could barely swallow it all. Her stomach felt uneasy.

She placed her head in her arms and thought about what the day was supposed to consist of. She figured since she had time before Sasuke was supposed to meet up with her she could try to pick up an hour of sleep or so.

* * *

Sasuke had also woken up due to a nightmare, and he had remembered every detail of it as well since it was always the same; him running home, seeing everyone dead, finding his parents dead in their house, and his brother standing over them with his Sharingan active. He would cry and beg for his brother to tell him what happened, only to have the shuriken thrown at him and realize it was Itachi who had killed them all. Then he would run, begging not to be killed.

He woke up in sweat, screaming, only to be greeted by the darkness. It was the third time for that night.

He got up and checked the date; it was May 5th, more than a year since he lost his family and another month till the Academy would be out for the summer. The time showed it to be around 7 in the morning.

He got up and washed his face, not realizing that he had tears in his eyes.

'I swore I wouldn't cry' Sasuke though furiously; it's too bad he couldn't control them in his sleep.

He went to the kitchen, and prepared a simple breakfast. Although he was going to meet up with Hikari at ten for some kind of confrontation, he still needed to get a good workout in to forget about the nightmare.

Finishing his meal, he goes to the back yard to practice some shuriken throwing, getting it nearly perfect, and constantly moving back to make it more challenging.

After about an hour in a half of it, he had nearly 9 feet distance, getting almost every hit perfectly. He quickly collected them, and returned to his house to take a shower; whatever his nightmare had done, he had relaxed from his training.

After showering, getting dressed in a black sweater with the clan symbol on its back, and black shorts, he saw that it was 9:30.

Putting on his shoes, he left the house, and began to make his way towards where Hikari lived.

* * *

"Sweetie, wake up" Hikari hears her father say drowsily. She opens her eyes to see that she had fallen asleep in the kitchen.

"What time is it?" Hikari asks, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Almost ten; didn't you get enough sleep last night?" Kori asks.

"I woke up too early tou-san, and after breakfast I just placed my head on the table and dozed off" Hikari explained. Then something her father said rung an alarm in her head, "wait, ten?"

"Yes" Kori said, a confused on his face.

"Did someone come looking for me?" She asked.

"Nope, why, are you expecting Naruto?" Kori asks.

"No, someone else, but I guess it would be early; I gave him half an hour if he was running late after ten" Hikari stood up, stretched her arms over her head, and patted her hair down in case she had messed it up.

Just as she was patting her head down, she heard a knock at the door. Picking her bag up from next to her, she walked to the door and opened it. The one behind it turned out to be Sasuke Uchiha, exactly on time at ten. She smiled at this, and he just scowled.

"You're on time" she said.

"Hn" Sasuke said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Hikari, who is it?" Kori yelled out.

"A classmate from the academy" Hikari responds back. Her father just walks towards the door, looks down at Sasuke, and just smiles at him.

"Hello, I'm Kori Chami, Hikari's tou-san" He introduced himself, bringing a hand forward to shake.

Hikari was taken a bit aback when Sasuke returns the greeting, "Sasuke Uchiha" and he shook her tou-san's hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, I would ask you if you would like to come in, but I think my wife just woke up, and is making her morning routine. Hikari, it's probably best to head out before your kaa-san begins her usual questions about your choice of friends. You two go have fun" her tou-san says, ruffling her hair.

"I hope we can meet on a better time Sasuke-kun" and much to Sasuke's chagrin, and Hikari's amusement, he ruffles his hair too.

"Likewise" Sasuke responds, keeping a blank face on, although Hikari can tell he feels uncomfortable by the gesture.

"Alright Sasuke, let's go" and to add more to Sasuke's discomfort, she grabbed his arm, and started to drag him away.

Once they were a good few feet away from her house, Sasuke yanked his arm away from her, "I don't need you to drag me to where were going."

"Habitual reflexes from hanging out with Naruto. In any case follow me, I know of a place where hardly anyone goes to" Hikari says.

"Hn' Sasuke says, and makes a gesture as if to say 'well, let's go.'

"This way" and the two began running to where they would get things out in the open.

* * *

"Ding, ding, ding, di- crash" Naruto threw the alarm clock against the wall. Wherever Hikari found a clock that wouldn't get destroyed when he threw it was beyond him. On the weekends he would sleep in longer, but Hikari made it a point he woke up before noon, so he settled for 10. Getting up, he stretched out, began to change, and then quickly make breakfast. He was actually excited for the weekend because he remembered that Hikari said something on improving chakra control.

'I wonder what she has in mind' Naruto was too excited. He quickly downed his instant ramen, grabbed his backpack, and made his way towards Hikari's home.

Once he knocked, Kori had opened the door to greet him, "Hello Naruto-kun. If you're looking for Hikari, she just left with one of your classmates not too long ago."

This surprised Naruto since Hikari hadn't mentioned anything about having other plans besides the lesson her tou-san had taught her.

"Did she say when she's coming back?" Naruto asks.

"I'm afraid not, were you two supposed to be meeting this early?" Kori asks.

"No, just Hikari-chan said something about practicing chakra control that you taught her on the weekend. We didn't actually set up any plan to meet" Naruto explains, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Something I taught her must be the tree climbing exercise. Why don't you come in and tell me what the two of you were going to do" Kori says, opening the door wider.

Although Naruto spent a lot of time with Hikari and her family, he's never been alone with them without her around.

Still, he wanted to know if there was any way to get his chakra control better, and entered the house, all the while wondering what Hikari could be doing.

* * *

Sasuke kept in pace with Hikari as she led him to a location where no one would bother them. He was kind of put off this morning with her tou-san. He thought because of the perfect results she keeps getting that her tou-san had to be strict like his was. When he just greeted him, and even ruffled his hair, it left him baffled. Was Hikari just an exception to the family, like a prodigy? Because being that happy is a weakness, isn't it?

The further they ran into the village, the more curious Sasuke was to where she was taking him. He was surprised when the location turned out to be the Hokage heads. He had never gone up here before, and was surprised at how high they were.

"I tent to come up here when it gets closer to sunset; makes the village seem painted with dark orange instead of the usual green we see now" Hikari said.

"Hn" Sasuke didn't know what she was talking about, but it didn't matter to him, he just wanted to finish whatever she wanted to talk about, and then get back to training.

Hikari sighed at that, "If it weren't for the fact that I've heard you speak, I could swear you were born a mute."

Sasuke turned to look at Hikari with a glare forming on his face.

"And that's why we have come here; to deal with your issues" Hikari said, eyes furrowing at the glare he was pointing in her direction.

"I don't have any issues that require dealing, none of your business" Sauske grumbles out.

"It is my business when you are constantly glaring at me" Hikari retorts.

There quiet for a few minutes, Sasuke glaring, and Hikari with narrow eyes, one waiting to break the staring contest.

Finally it's Hikari who just sighs and breaks the eye contact, "So, spill it. Why do you keep on glaring at me?"

Sasuke didn't say anything, and Hikari continues, "You know, the longer you stay quiet, the longer were going to be here."

"You wanted to talk, not me" Sasuke just says.

"And you proved you can talk by how you spoke with my tou-san, so don't hold out on me" Hikari retorts.

"That's different" Sasuke says, looking away.

Surprised by his tone, she keeps pushing it, "And why is that?"

"Because he looks at me different than the rest of the adults" Sasuke says before he could take back the words.

This stuns Hikari, and looks at Sasuke as if he had grown two heads. Sasuke takes a quick glance at her, and raises his eyebrows as if asking 'what?'

Breaking out of her stupor, she asks the obvious question, "What?"

"Pity, that's the look most give me when I have to talk to others. Your tou-san didn't look at me in such ways when he greeted me" Sasuke looks away again, as if embarrassed that he admitted some sort of secret.

Sasuke waits for her to say, and when she doesn't, he looks at her again to see her sitting down and thinking.

"Our classmates, specifically the girls, tend to talk about you. I don't want side information on you, so why don't you tell me; why do people look at you with pity" Hikari finally asks.

"If you know, then why are you asking me?" Sasuke says, beginning to grow angry.

"Because all I know is you lost your family and are by yourself, like Naruto, but unlike him you're closed off-

"Do not compare me to the dobe; he's been on his own from the start. It hurts because I use to have a family, just to lose them by someone I thought I could trust. We're nothing alike!" Sasuke yells out.

"Listen, I know exactly how you-

"Don't say you know how I feel, you can't possibly know how I feel. How could you with both of your parent's still alive, and laughing and fooling around. It's why I hate you; I training day and night to get stronger, and yet here you are playing around, with the dobe no less, and beating me at everything. How can you possibly know how I feel?" Sasuke yells out again, panting after his rant.

When Sasuke finally calms down and looks at Hikari again, he's shocked by what he's seeing; tears are streaming down Hikari's face, but at the same time she looks angry. Her whole body is shaking as if holding herself from attacking him.

Sasuke steps back without realizing he did as Hikari tries to calm herself down. When she speaks, it's with a cold voice that Sasuke has never heard her speak with before.

"I know, because my family was massacred when I was three years old, and I had the misfortune to witness it all by the honors of my uncle."

* * *

Suspense, I know.

It's time to see Hikari's more angry and vulnerable side because she thinks only Sasuke can understand her story.

Sorry if it seems weird, but I promise for it to make sense next week.

I would like to thank everyone who posted a review, I wasn't expecting this story to surpass in reviews to my Story Eye of the first, heart of the second. I really feels good when results come out like that, so thank you.

Cheers


	15. Chapter 15

Hi everyone

How is everyone's Friday going?

So here's my next chapter, A Hikari and Sasuke moment.

Let's see how it all works out

enjoy

I don't own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 14

Pause… pause…. Pause…. pause.

Wait, what?

Sasuke stares at Hikari, waiting for whatever she said to be reversed, to be something else.

The look Hikari was giving him was cold, shaking, and although no sounds of sobbing could be heard from her, tears were streaming down her face.

It was causing Sasuke to shake as she wiped her tears away.

"What did you say?" Sauske asks his voice no louder than a whisper.

"They were massacred by my uncle" Hikari says, eyes now emotionless, and her face returning to its calm.

A flashback of the night he lost his family returned to Sasuke just for a moment, and then he shook his head from it. He looks at Hikari, and really looks at her; judging from her reaction it wasn't a lie.

"Massacred?" Sasuke asks again. He did not want to believe what he was hearing, because it wasn't making any sense to him.

"Yes, my uncle killed everyone when I was three. Me, my kaa-san, and tou-san are all that's left of our family" Hikari says, sitting down as if talking about it was draining her.

Sasuke hesitates for a second, and then goes to sit in front of her. He couldn't tear his eyes away from hers after her confession. Despite his unwillingness before, he felt that he needed to hear it, to understand, because he still couldn't understand his own situation on why that night happened to him.

They stayed silent for a few minutes, just staring at each other, and then Hikari asks the question, "How did you lose your family?"

He didn't want to answer, but after her confession, he couldn't deny that she did in fact understand at some level, "They were massacred by my ni-san."

Her eyes widen slightly, but nods. Sasuke wasn't use to talking about something that made him feel strong emotions, but he knew, without her saying anything, that she wouldn't judge or pity him afterwards, "it happened over a year ago. I'm from the Uchiha clan, those with dōjutsu kekkei genkai. It's called the Sharingan. My clan were one of the founders of the hidden leaf village. I was coming back from school (I had stayed later than usual) and was worried that my Kaa-san was going to be mad." Sasuke was fighting the stinging he felt in his eyes. He was glad that Hikari didn't notice, or if she did didn't say anything.

"When I got there, it was quiet, and the further I went in, the stronger the scent of blood could be smelled. Eventually, once I reached the district, there were dead bodies and blood on the floor. I thought that the moon was red that night. I began running towards my house; there were bodies everywhere. Eventually, once I got home, I was yelling for my tou-san and kaa-san. I ran to their rooms, and saw both of them were dead. The shadow above them was my nii-Itachi Uchiha" Sauske was starting to get angry, his voice raising a few volumes, "I though he just got there like me, and asked him who did it. The moment I asked him, he threw a shuriken at my left shoulder, just scraping it. I knew right then that it was him. He used his sharingan to show me how he killed everyone, over and over."

"Did you ask him why he did it?" Hikari asks, keeping her voice calm and collected.

"Yes, and he said it was to test his limitations. I was so mad that I tried to attack him, but was easily defeated. I ran, scared, yelling that I didn't want to die. He said I was not worth killing and told me to hate him. He said once I had the same eyes as him then I should face him" Sasuke yells, panting from all the anger and hatred he had exerted in his story.

He turned to look at Hikari, to see if the pity that everyone looked at him with was there. He didn't see it, instead she said something that threw him off guard, "your brother's not a good liar is he?"

"What?" he asks.

"'To test my limitations', exactly what limitations could he test with killing his own family? I sincerely doubt he kept you alive because you weren't 'worth killing'" Hikari says.

This causes Sasuke to furrow his eyebrows, and process what she's saying.

"I have no idea of your family history, or what kind of shinobi your ni-san is, but he must have been really good if he killed your family by himself" Hikari says.

Sasuke flinches at that, but replies, "He was the prodigy and pride of the Uchiha clan."

"Then there's more to it then what he said to you. You may hate him, and it's no excuse for what he did, but your ni-san lied to you that day" Hikari said.

Sasuke was starting to grow angry again, but this time it was more at himself than at Itachi. He had been so angry, and felt betrayed and hurtful, that he never took the time to truly reflect on that night; it's still too painful to think about it.

But thinking on Itachi's words now, it makes sense that there might be something more than what he said on that night; he killed everyone, why leave him alive?

"Sometimes our hate clouds the truth" Hikari says.

"I have every right to hate him" Sasuke retorts.

"Yes you do, more than anyone else, but don't let your hate cloud the truth Sasuke; your ni-san is hiding something from you, and if you don't figure it out, then the next time you face him, it might be a trap" Hikari says calmly.

Sasuke glares at her because, unfortunately, he knows she's correct, and his glare intensifies when he sees her smiling softly at him.

"I guess talking about it didn't stop you from glaring at me did it?" Hikari jokes.

"How are you able to laugh and joke around after what happened to you?" Sasuke asks, scowling.

"Because pushing everyone away didn't help me at all, it only made things worse. Didn't you have friends before it happened?" Hikari asks.

"No, I never had friends. I only answered if asked, but I never had any friends" Sasuke says.

"Well, I guess I was too young to really have any of those friends, but I didn't let anyone in after it happened; I just wanted to be alone" Hikari says, getting a cloudy look in her eyes.

"Your parents are alive, you weren't alone" Sasuke scoffs.

"It only made a difference physically; they couldn't help me no more than I could help myself emotionally" Hikari says, turning her eyes to lock with his.

Sasuke didn't want to ask, not after having to retell that night, especially since he never told anyone about that night, but since she helped him come to a realization about Itachi, he felt he owed her in some way, "How did it happen?"

"It was five years ago. It happened in the middle of the night. I think I was sleeping next to my aunt in the living room that night since my parents couldn't watch over me. I had woken up to yelling, and quickly ran under the cupboard underneath the sink. The doors to it never closed fully, so I was able to look in the little amount of space I could see. My grandpa once said something about if there's danger, to make sure not make a single sound. So I kept as quiet as possible when my uncle came in and attacked my aunt and her two teenagers. One didn't die right away, so he came closer to her. I thought he was going to finish her, but…" Hikari was starting to get misty eyes again, and Sasuke turned away, feeling uncomfortable to seeing this side of her.

"But instead, he pulled his and her pants down, and raped her. She died sometime during the action. Afterwards, he laughed like a maniac and left the house. I was so scared that I didn't leave that cupboard until someone found me. My tou-san told me that I was hiding for days under there, and that my uncle wouldn't hurt anyone no more; tou-san had killed him. It's just my tou-san, my kaa-san, and I now, everyone else is gone. That joke about you being mute, well after that night I didn't speak for three years" by this point, Hikari was rubbing her eyes in order to hide the tears that were coming.

Sauske didn't know what to say, so he said nothing. He thought that he had been too weak to kill Itachi back then, but Hikari's story made him realize that there was nothing he could have done. Itachi had been a ninja, a captain anbu, while he was still at the academy. Itachi had let him go, but if Hikari's uncle had found her, she would have died or worse.

"It's not your fault" Sasuke says, truly meaning it.

"It's not your fault either" Hikari says, getting the last of her tears.

They just stare for a moment, and Sasuke knows now that no matter what, he won't be able to ignore her anymore; she gets it.

"…I won't glare anymore" Sasuke says awkwardly.

Hikari blinks at this, and then bursts out laughing. Sasuke looks at her as if she's gone mad.

"Thanks Sasuke, I appreciate that. But I'll make you a deal instead; you can glare as much as you want, in exchange come train with me" Hikari says, smiling at him.

"And why would I do that?" Sasuke says sceptically.

"Because I know you want to go after your brother, and what better way for us to get stronger than training with each other; especially when were the top of our class" Hikari says.

This brings him to a pause in his response, and remembers one of his questions to her earlier, "how can you still smile after what happened? You said you stopped talking afterwards."

"I met someone in Suna, and we became friends. It made me realize that pushing people away was stupid because I wasn't the only one who was suffering, and no one can do things alone in this world" Hikari's smile grew at that statement.

"Friendship makes you weak" Sasuke says bluntly.

"Friendship makes you strong. Naruto's a good example" Hikari retorts.

"He's the dead last" Sasuke argues.

"And yet he got perfect on the henge test. I wonder how that happened." Hikari smirks.

Sasuke scowls at that because he understood her meaning; before Hikari, Naruto was by himself without any friends or family. After Hikari befriended Naruto, Naruto had slowly begun to improve in the academy.

"What can you teach me that the academy can't?" Sasuke asks.

"My tou-san used to be a shinobi, so he taught me things that haven't yet been taught at the academy. If you want to find out, come to training ground 7 at 5 pm on Monday. We don't have to train everyday Sasuke, but once a week should be okay" Hikari says.

"What about the dobe?" Sasuke asks.

Hikari sighs at this, "what's with the two of you with nicknames; Naruto's the 'dobe', and you're the 'Teme'."

Sasuke scowls at the nickname, but doesn't answer her question.

"He doesn't hate you Sasuke" Hikari says gently.

"I don't care" Sasuke retorts.

"Well, to answer your question, Naruto will be there. It's a routine we've developed so it's the way it's going to be" Hikari answers.

"I won't come if he's there" Sasuke snarls.

"Why, are you afraid that Naruto will one up you?" Hikari challenges.

"Like he can" Sauske scoffs.

"Well then I don't see the problem, and if it's because you think Naruto will act like an idiot, I'll make sure to give him a good talk to so it's not like your 'wasting time'" Hikari says, making finger quotes.

"Hn" Sasuke turns to hide the smirk from her.

"Well? I plan to teach Naruto this, so it will defiantly not be something that the academy's teaching; I haven't even mastered this skill myself so I'll be training in it as well" Hikari says.

Sasuke turns back to her, and raises an eyebrow at that; if Hikari hasn't mastered it yet, then it must be hard.

"What is it?" Sasuke asks.

Smiling, Hikari shakes her head, "you'll have to show up for me to answer that."

Sasuke scowls and that actually makes her laugh, "well, how else am I to insure you'll show up?"

"Fine" Sasuke relents. Even if the dobe is there, there's no doubt that she's his rival and he needs to prove that whatever she can do, he can do it to.

"Great. It's at training ground 7, 5 pm. So that gives you sometime after the academy to eat, change, or go home to drop your things. I and Naruto are always there at 5" Hikari explains.

"Hn" Sasuke nods.

"Are you going to retort to one word speaking again?" Hikari asks.

"…Hn" Sasuke couldn't stop the smirk appearing on his face; for some reason that made Hikari smile.

"Okay then, Monday, training ground 7 at 5" Hikari gets up to leave.

Before walking down the stairs, she turns back to Sasuke, "Oh, and Sasuke?"

He looks to where she is.

"Thank you" then Hikari takes off.

Sasuke looks at where she was a moment ago, then gets up to head home. As he walks through the village, the pity looks didn't seem to annoy him so much today like it usually did. He didn't talk or look at anyone directly, but for some reason he felt contempt, satisfied, something he wasn't aware of caring. It's as if knowing there's someone that looks at him no different than before, made everyone else who does vanish from his thoughts. He didn't even know that he actually cared about the way people looked at him.

Shaking that thought process, he went back to where his thoughts are always at; revenge.

But even that has been pushed back by what Hikari had said; Itachi lied to him, and before he can take him on, he needs to reach his eyes to Itachi's level to find out what it is he's lying to him about.

* * *

So there we go

I try to make Sasuke almost the same as cannon, but remember, he's currently 8 years old and can be easily influenced.

I hope this wasn't a disappointment, I didn't want to make it too sobs but not emotionless either.

Hope you guys liked it.

Reviews? Please

Cheers


	16. Chapter 16

Hi everyone

So here's my next chapter, still following from last weeks, and I'm pleased with the reviews people send me

you guys are so amazing for taking the time to post, and I try to write back

hope you enjoy this story

Enjoy

I don't own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 15

Hikari slowly walks through the village, heading towards a dango shop. She hadn't thought that Sasuke would share his past like that. She didn't think he would open up at all based on how he acts when they're at the academy.

'It's a mask, so no one will know how hurt he truly is' Hikari thinks. And it's true; her father had said to her once that most ninja use a mask to cover most of their emotions.

She has no idea what kind of Shinobi Sasuke's brother is, nor does she know what a sharingan does, but if his brother, Itachi, was the pride and prodigy of the clan, then chances are that he's really powerful. Her uncle hadn't been anything special, but since her mom's family had been civilians, they didn't stand a chance against him.

Hikari was actually surprised with herself that she chose to share her story; that was the first time she had told anyone of that night. Not Naruto, or even Gaara, knows of that night. She supposes since something similar had happened with Sasuke, only he could truly understand that kind of pain.

However, now that she has heard his story, she realizes that they are in two separate levels of mourning; her family's killer is dead and his is still alive. That and it's been years for her, where it hasn't even been more than a year for him. She guesses that it'll take a while for him to accept people into his heart again.

Thinking about it makes her reflect on how it affected her. She had never been so scared of her life that night, and she had kept seeing it over and over again in her nightmares. She was so afraid after that day that she tried to stay quiet in order to avoid ever being in danger again; it's why she stopped talking. It didn't help that everyone she saw when she was traveling with her family were always smiling, and noisy. It made the library a heaven to her because it's always so quiet.

When she met Gaara, she felt like opening up. For the first time in three years, she noticed that someone was not happy and smiling. The look he had for not being able to play with the other kids had been full of sorrow. It's what had caused her to talk again; to realize that she wasn't the only one in the world in pain. What made it truly changing was when she realized that it happened and it wasn't happening again. It was in the past. Gaara, thought, he had still been suffering.

Shaking her head from the past, she walks in the dango shop to eat some lunch.

* * *

 _Dear Gaara_

 _The academy is different. There are some subjects, like history and technical that I didn't know from the library and the ninjutsu for substitution is what we're working on next. I didn't know any ninjutsu, just henge. Taijutsu and ninja tool throwing is easy though, so there's no fun there. We actually have a flower training class for the girls, which is interesting if I wish to make either poisons or antidotes. I've decided to read on Medical books to be prepared once I do become a ninja; knowing and preventing infections may be the difference of life and death I think. There's this boy in class that seems to be top of his class, but every time I either do well or better than him, he just glares at me. I might do something about it, not sure yet, but he seems like a loner so I can't blame him for not knowing how to be polite; he's an orphan like Naruto. Naruto can't wait for you to read his letter next, so now you have two people to write to._

 _Let me know on anything new Gaara._

 _Love Hikari._

This makes Gaara smile. He was holding the second letter in his hand that was from Naruto Uzumaki.

He opened it up, and was stunned by the sight of messy writing.

 _Hello Gaara of Suna_

 _My Name is Uzumaki Naruto, I'm pretty sure Hikari-chan has told you about me. I am so excited to be writing to you, you'll be my next friend in life. Ummm, how are you? What's life like in the sand? Is it really sandy there like its name? Is it really hot there? Do you have ramen there? Ramen is the best food ever, lots of flavors and it's never boring. I plan on becoming the Hokage someday, believe it! What's your family like? Hikari-chan says you've got an older brother and sister and your dad's the Kazekage. That's cool; does that mean your sister's next in line or something? Sorry I'm just so excited to talk to another friend. Listen, if Hikari-chan finds out how to visit you, I'm defiantly coming as well, believe it!_

 _Well I guess that's all I have to ask._

 _Talk again, Naruto._

'Well, he's certainly energetic' Gaara thinks. It was certainly interesting how much energy one can expose on paper. He was amazed that even though they haven't met yet, this Naruto still thought they were already friends.

A knock on the door before it opened was the only warning Gaara had for his space to be invaded.

"Hey Gaara, what's up?" Kankuro asks.

"I was just reading the new letters that came in the mail; her new friend had sent me one as well" Gaara says.

"Oh, really?" Kankuro walks to where Gaara is sitting, and begins to read the letter Naruto wrote. Not too long, Kankuro bursts out laughing.

"Well, that Naruto kid certainly sounds like an idiot, but energetic; He sounds like the complete opposite of you" Kankuro snorts.

"How so?" Gaara asks.

"Well, your calm and collected. From the letter it shows that he's hyperactive. You're neat when you write, and sound intelligent. His writing is messy, and you have to read it a few times to get what he's writing. He sounds interesting if your girl has befriended him" Kankuro explains.

"Hikari" Gaara corrects.

"Yeah, I actually came to tell you of fathers answer" Kankuro says.

Gaara waits for him to speak, "I told him that you were in full control, and there's someone you know in Konoha. He says that the week before we leave, you're to show him your control of the sand. If he's satisfied, then you'll come with us. So, I guess practice as much as you can. In two months were going to be going" Kankuro explains.

"Thank you Kankuro" Gaara says, showing a little smile.

"Hey, were brothers. And I'll make sure to back you up in any way you need help to go with us; I'm not leaving you alone here" Kankuro promises.

Nodding, Gaara places the letters down, "is it okay if we train now?"

"Sure" Kankuro answers. And the two of them make way to the training fields.

* * *

"I'm home" Hikari announces, closing the door.

"Welcome home sweetie" Kori says.

Hikari places her bag down, and walks to the kitchen, only to be surprised by the guest there.

"Naruto?" Hikari asks.  
"Hey Hikari-chan, your tou-san said you were meeting with someone our age. He invited me in to speak about what you said of chakra control. I don't get it, it's confusing" Naruto pouts.

"What did you say to him tou-san?" Hikari asks.

"I just explained what chakra is after we had tea. Chakra is created when two other forms of energy are moulded together. Physical energy is collected from each and every one of the body's cells and can be increased through training, stimulants, and exercise. Spiritual energy is derived from the mind's consciousness and can be increased through studying, meditation, and experience. These two energies becoming more powerful will in turn make the created chakra more powerful. Therefore, practicing a technique repeatedly will build up experience, increasing one's spiritual energy, and thus allowing more chakra to be created. As a result, the ninja is able to do that same technique with more power. This same cycle applies for physical energy, except the ninja needs to increase their endurance instead" Kori explains again.

"See, it makes no sense" Naruto whines.

"How about this explanation; Chakra is energy that a ninja needs to use to utilize a technique. That energy comes from the body energy that is collected from every cell in the body. And from the spirit energy that comes from training and experience. In other words, techniques come from these two energies that are squeezed out of the body and molded together. This process is known as molding the chakra. And with this chakra one is able to execute a technique by forming a seal" Kori tries again to explain.

Shaking his head, Hikari face palms, "tou-san, Naruto is the type of person that learns through his body; you have to show him in order for him to get it."

"Hey!" Naruto yells. They ignore it.

"Well, in that case you're a better teacher than me. Now that your here Hikari-chan, I and your kaa-san are heading to the hospital for a check-up. She's been feeling more exhausted than normal" Kori says. He gets up, and knocks on their bedroom door, "Dear, you ready?"

The door opens, "Yes. There you are Hikari-chan, did you have a nice walk?" Sora asks.

"Yes" Hikari says quickly, hoping Naruto doesn't say anything. Thankfully, he doesn't.

"We will be back before dinner. If you get hungry, there's food in the fridge" Sora says, before she and Kori leave the house.

"A walk; I thought your tou-san said that you were meeting someone our age?" Naruto asks confused.

"I did, but since I seem to get along with boys more, Kaa-san can get a bit uncomfortable with it" Hikari says.

"But I'm a boy!"

"You're an exception, or you don't count."

"Do too!"

Hikari just starts laughing at that; Naruto just pouts.

"Anyways Naruto, I'm sorry I wasn't here earlier; I had to meet up with Sasuke" Hikari says.

"Sasuke, why?" Naruto asks.

"So we could come to an agreement about him glaring at me. I was actually thinking of getting him to train with us, I don't know if he will though" Hikari says.

"But he's a jerk" Naruto complains.

"I know, but maybe he'll stop being a jerk if he actually has friends" Hikari shrugs.

"I don't think so. He has that stick so up his butt that he must barely be able to bend" Naruto says, frowning.

Hikari blinks at this, and for the second time that day, bursts out laughing, falling to the ground. Leave it to Naruto to make up something that makes no sense.

Once she gets in control, she sees Naruto grinning like crazy, "Alright you made your point, but don't you want to prove that what he can do, you can do better?"

This perks Naruto up, "Of course, that bastard can't beat me!"

"Well, if were learning something, and you learn it first, then that will show him. It's better to train together anyways than on our own. And some friendly competition is always nice. It's just only this Monday so far, who knows if he'll come again afterwards" Hikari says.

Naruto frowns at this, "perhaps for the two of you; you're both the top of the class. I'm the dead-last."

Hikari, realizing what it could look like to Naruto, shakes her head, "you got perfect yesterday Naruto, you're not the dead-last. I think sometimes you need someone different for some training. For example, sparing; since were friends, we don't even think about fighting, just fixing our stances. I doubt you'll be reserved when sparing with Sasuke."

"Oh, yeah that's true. Okay I get it" Naruto nods his head; Hikari sighs in relief.

"So, can you explain what your tou-san was trying to say about Chakra?" Naruto asks.

"You learn it with your body. Like the henge; you think what you needed to transform into, and then used your body to do it, making a seal" Hikari explains.

"Oh, yeah that makes sense; why didn't he explain it that way" Naruto says, making Hikari giggle.

"Well, what did you want to do today Naruto? I know we have to practice the hand signs for the substitution technique, so why don't we practice that and Monday I'll show you some chakra control practices; I still got to ask tou-san about it first" Hikari says.

Naruto deflates, but nods anyways. For the rest of the time they practice the hand signs for the substitution technique, only pausing every now and then for a snack.

'I wonder how Monday is going to turn out, I hope Naruto and Sasuke don't kill each other' Hikari thinks. Whatever the result will be, if Sasuke shows up at all on Monday, then it will be a first step in breaking him out of his anger towards the world.

* * *

There we go

So next chapter will deal with how they handle Sasuke, and then time skips will be happening because everything else should be following normally.

I hope this chapter wasn't too boring, I know sometimes it seems like fillers, but I try to fit it where it should.

Cheers everyone have a great weekend


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